Minnesota @ St. Louis preview
Enterprise Center
Last Meeting ( May 12, 2021 ) Minnesota 0, St. Louis 4
The St. Louis Blues will continue their postseason preparations when they host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Blues (26-20-9, 61 points) beat the Wild 4-0 Wednesday in the first of back-to-back games at Enterprise Center. The Blues have earned points in 10 of their past 11 games, going 7-1-3 down the stretch to secure the fourth playoff spot in the West Division.
But once again they didn't establish the tight-checking, puck-control style they used to win the 2019 Stanley Cup.
"Offensively we have done a decent job," Blues defenseman Torey Krug after scoring a goal and adding an assist on Wednesday. "Our goaltending is playing great too. The things we have to tighten up are the turnovers at both blue lines."
The Blues will face the Vegas Golden Knights or Colorado Avalanche in the first playoff round, with the Wild facing the other.
"I think whichever team we play, it's going to be a good test," Krug said. "I'm sure both teams, I don't know if they want to play us, to be honest. We're going to be a tough out, and I think everyone is excited about it and champing at the bit.
"One more game and we'll figure it out."
The Wild's bid to finish second in the West Division ended with their loss Wednesday night. So the third-place Wild (35-15-5, 75 points) could sit some key players in this rematch.
"There might be some people that you want to rest," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "But the good thing for us is that we just had two complete days off plus practice (Tuesday)."
Conversely, the Blues may get defenseman Vince Dunn (upper body) and wingers Sammy Blais (upper body) and Vladimir Tarasenko (lower body) off the injured list for some game action before the playoffs begin.
"They skated this morning with the taxi squad," Blues coach Craig Berube said Wednesday. "All three of them could be available tomorrow, I'm not sure yet. We'll make that decision tomorrow morning."
One player the Blues won't have is defenseman Jake Walman. He tested positive for COVID-19 and remains in quarantine.
The Blues are likely to start top goaltender Jordan Binnington after playing backup Ville Husso Wednesday night. Center Tyler Bozak, who rested Wednesday night, could be back in the lineup as well.
After starting Cam Talbot in goal Wednesday, the Wild seem likely to start Kaapo Kahkonen in the net. Veteran winger Zach Parise, a healthy scratch in the past week, could be back in the lineup as Evason rests some regulars.
Evason noted that even accomplished players like Parise must earn their spot for the playoffs.
"They've got to put the work in and show us that they're ready to go when they get called upon," Evason said. "We're going into the playoffs. We're going to use bodies. People are going to get banged up. We expect everybody that's not playing to be ready to play if called upon."
--Field Level Media