Blues at Wild
The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild will put their respective hot streaks on the line Sunday when the Central Division rivals meet at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. St. Louis boasts a 5-1-1 mark in its last seven games to reside two points behind first-place Chicago while third-place Minnesota has won three straight to improve to 5-1-3 in its last nine.
Jake Allen has been red-hot for the Blues, making 20 saves in a 4-1 victory over New Jersey on Friday to up his mark to 9-1-0 in his last 10 outings with a 2.16 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. Included in that mix for the 26-year-old New Brunswick native is a 28-save performance on Nov. 26 as St. Louis posted its second straight home victory over Minnesota this season with a 4-3 shootout win. The Wild have won three in a row at home and eight of 11 overall after Friday's 3-2 shootout victory over Edmonton. Devan Dubnyk (NHL-best 1.66 goals-against average, .946 save percentage), who has surrendered two goals or fewer in 16 of his last 21 starts, made 25 saves versus his former team to improve to 5-0-2 in his last seven.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Wisconsin, FSN North-Plus (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE BLUES (16-8-4): Vladimir Tarasenko (team-leading 13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points) continues to make himself at home on the road, setting up a season-high three tallies at New Jersey to extend his road point streak to six contests (three goals, nine assists). Linemate Robby Fabbri scored twice and has three goals and an assist in his last two games, a stark contrast to the start of the season that saw the second-year forward fail to find the back of the net in his first 12 contests. "I'm just sticking with it, trying to be consistent and play to my strengths, compete on pucks, be tenacious, get on the forecheck and create those turnovers," the 20-year-old Fabbri told reporters. "When I'm playing with (Tarasenko) and (Jori Lehtera), I'm just trying to work off of them because they're so talented. I try to get in prime areas and when I do, I just want to put it in."
ABOUT THE WILD (14-8-4): Pesky Jason Zucker scored in his second straight contest on Friday to record his eighth point (three goals, five assists) in as many games. The 24-year-old set up a goal in Minnesota's 3-2 season-opening loss to St. Louis on Oct. 13 and also notched an assist versus the Blues on Nov. 26. Fellow forward Mikael Granlund set up Zucker's tally versus the Devils to post an assist for the second straight game and record his seventh point in nine games (one goal, six assists), but has been limited to just three points - all assists - in 16 career encounters with St. Louis.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota is 0-for-14 on the power play in its last six games overall and 0-for-7 in two meetings with St. Louis this season.
2. Blues associate coach Mike Yeo will return to St. Paul for the first time since being relieved as coach of the Wild during the 2015-16 campaign.
3. Eighteen of Minnesota's 26 games this season have been decided by one goal, including each of the last six.