Wild at Blues
The Minnesota Wild attempt to extend a pair of winning streaks Saturday as they kick off their five-game road trip against the Central Division-rival St. Louis Blues. Minnesota is making a quick turnaround after rolling to a 6-2 home victory over Pittsburgh on Friday, a triumph that gave it points in three straight games overall (2-0-1).
Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter both scored twice to remain tied for the team lead with seven goals apiece as the Wild begin their trek with a two-game point streak on the road (1-0-1). St. Louis is hoping to continue its dominance at Scottrade Center, where it has won three in a row and earned points in eight straight (6-0-2) while going 8-1-2 overall this season. The Blues had their four-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, when their late comeback - two goals in the final 1:15 of the third period - fell short and they dropped a 4-3 decision at Washington. Vladimir Tarasenko has been red-hot for St. Louis, recording points in nine of his last 10 contests after scoring a pair of goals versus the Capitals.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE WILD (11-7-2): Minnesota's power play is heating up, as the team went 3-for-4 in Friday's win and has scored six times with the man advantage over its last four contests. Both of Niederreiter's tallies against the Penguins came on the power play, tying him with Coyle for the club lead at three. Mikael Granlund has collected five points in his last three games after recording a goal and an assist on Friday.
ABOUT THE BLUES (11-7-3): Tarasenko leads the team in goals (nine), assists (13) and points (22) as he has been kept off the scoresheet in only six of his 21 games. One of the clubs that shut him down was Minnesota, although the 24-year-old Russian did manage to register four shots in St. Louis' 3-2 home victory on Oct. 13. David Perron, who notched an assist Wednesday to pull within two of 200 for his career, will match his career high of seven consecutive games with a point if he lands on the scoresheet against Minnesota.
OVERTIME
1. Blues G Jake Allen's next victory will be the 67th of his career, which would move him past Roman Turek for ninth place on the franchise list.
2. Minnesota's Christian Folin suffered a knee injury in Friday's game and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks, while fellow D Nate Prosser will replace him against the Blues.
3. St. Louis' lone regulation loss at home came on Oct. 25, when it fell to Calgary 4-1.