Blues at Wild
The Minnesota Wild are realizing their potential and that could spell trouble for fellow wild-card contenders and a potential first-round Stanley Cup playoff opponent down the road as they host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. The Wild won at Buffalo 3-2 in a shootout Saturday as they took a two-point lead over Colorado for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with their fourth straight victory, improving them to 8-3 since interim coach John Torchetti took the reins.
"Every single point is important and we've got to keep getting better and keep building our game," captain Mikko Koivu told reporters after Minnesota won for only the second time in 25 contests this season when trailing after two periods. The Blues have been idle since Tuesday's 4-3 shootout victory in Ottawa and trail Central Division co-leaders Chicago and Dallas by two points, but St. Louis captain David Backes told reporters: “We’re going to worry about the task at hand. I don’t think we can get our focus too far ahead. Whatever isn’t (about the next) game would be very misguided. ..." The Blues next play the Blackhawks, red-hot Anaheim and Dallas in succession with two games versus Washington and another against Chicago down the road.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network
ABOUT THE BLUES (37-20-9): Vladimir Tarasenko (team-best 30 goals) has scored three times in his last six games and boasts six points during that span. Jori Lehtera is expected to return to the lineup Sunday and center a line with Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz after taking a puck in the face and missing three games. Schwartz has five goals and four assists in 10 contests since missing 49 with an ankle injury.
ABOUT THE WILD (31-25-10): Jason Pominville, who has played 230 consecutive games, left in the first period Saturday with a lower-body injury but returned in the second and eventually scored the shootout winner. Jason Zucker (12 goals) was back in the lineup Saturday after missing six games with a concussion while defenseman Nate Prosser (illness) took part in the pregame skate before sitting for the second straight contest. David Jones, acquired at the trade deadline from Calgary, scored Saturday in his second game with Minnesota.
OVERTIME
1. The Wild have yielded a power-play goal in six of their last seven games and eight in 13 chances during that span.
2. St. Louis owned the NHL's No. 3 penalty-killing unit and No. 5 power play entering Saturday.
3. The teams split the first four meetings of the five-game season series with the Wild winning the only contest in Minnesota 3-2 on Oct. 10.