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NHL Preview: St. Louis Blues (11-8-1) at Minnesota Wild (5-10-4)

ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:

CURRENT INJURIES None

2023-24 Total Man Games Lost: 2

Blues vs. Wild

• The Blues and Wild will meet for the 1st of 4 matchups this season (Mar. 2 in St. Louis / Mar. 16 in St. Louis / Mar. 23 in Minnesota) • The Blues went 1-3-0 against the Wild last season (1-1-0 on the road; 0-2-0 at home) • Prior to last season, the Blues earned points in 10 straight games against Minnesota (9-0-1 from Apr. 9, 2021 to Apr. 16, 2022) • The Blues are 10-3-1 in their last 14 games against Minnesota • The Blues are 4-1-1 in their last 6 games in Minnesota • The Blues have scored a power play goal in 6 of their last 8 games against Minnesota, going 10 for 28 (35.7%) on the power play over those 8 games • Colton Parayko is expected to dress in his 598th career game, which will move him into a tie for 6th among defenseman on the Blues all-time franchise list with Chris Pronger

Extra Notes

• The Blues are 10-0-0 when scoring first this season, which shares the 4th most wins in the NHL (1. NY Rangers, 12), and the Blues are the only team in the NHL to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first this season • The Blues are 9-1-0 this season when they score at least 3 goals in a game • The Blues are also 10-0-1 this season when allowing 3 or less goals • The Blues have been shorthanded 52 times this season, which is the least in the NHL (2. Washington, 55) • The Blues have scored 6 shorthanded goals this season, which shares the most in the NHL with Dallas • On Nov. 22 at Arizona, both teams combined for 5 tying goals in the first 35 minutes of the game, which shares the most tying goals in the first 35 minutes of a game in NHL history (7 other) • The Blues scored 2 shorthanded goals in the same penalty kill on Nov. 22 at Arizona in a span of 33 seconds (Leddy & Toropchenko), which was the 2nd fastest 2 shorthanded goals in franchise history (1. 26 seconds on Nov. 6, 2019 / Bozak & Barbashev, both empty net goals) • It was also just the 5th time in franchise history the Blues have scored 2 shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill

Blues PK Killing It On The Road

• The Blues PK is 26 for 28 on the road this season, marking the 2nd best road penalty kill in the NHL (92.9%) (1. Dallas, 94.1%) • The Blues have allowed their opponents just 2 power play goals on the road this season, which shares the least amount in the NHL with Dallas • The Blues have been shorthanded just 28 times on the road this season, which shares the 4th least in the NHL (1. Ottawa, 14) • The Blues also have 5 shorthanded goals on the road this season, which is the most in the NHL • Last season, the Blues had a 70.7% penalty kill on the road and had only 4 shorthanded goals

November Has Been Good To The Blues

• The Blues have posted an 8-5-0 record in the month of November for 16 points • Their 8 wins in November share 3rd in the NHL (1. Florida/Colorado, 9), while their 16 points in the month share 5th in the NHL (1. Florida/Colorado, 18) • The Blues have scored 46 goals in November, which ranks 4th in the NHL (1. Colorado/Vancouver, 52) • The Blues have scored 5 shorthanded goals in November, which ranks 2nd in the NHL (1. Dallas, 6) • Robert Thomas has posted 17 points in November (7g, 10a), which shares 7th in the NHL (1. Kucherov, 25)

MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:

SERIES NOTES

ST. LOUIS BLUES All-Time Wild Record: 40-33-19 (25-14-8 at Xcel Energy Center, 15-19-11 at St. Louis)

2022-23: Minnesota went 3-1-0 against St. Louis…The Wild earned a 5-2 victory at St. Louis in the first meeting (12/31), fell 3-0 at Xcel Energy Center in the second game (1/8), won 8-5 at St. Louis in the third matchup (3/15) and won the series finale 5-3 in Saint Paul (4/8)…C Ryan Hartman led Minnesota with seven points (5-2=7)…C Joel Eriksson Ek had four points (1-3=4)…D Jared Spurgeon (2-1=3) and C Frederick Gaudreau (1-2=3) both had three points…G Marc-Andre Fleury was 2-0-0 with a 3.52 GAA and a .896 SV%…G Filip Gustavsson was 1-1-0 with a 2.58 GAA and a .921 SV% in two starts…LW Pavel Buchnevich led the Blues with six points (4-2=6)…C Brayden Schenn had four points (2-2=4)…D Torey Krug (0- 3=3), C Jordan Kyrou (0-3=3) and C Robert Thomas (0-3=3) each had three points…G Jordan Binnington was 0-2-0 with a 5.21 GAA and a .845 SV% in three games…G Thomas Greiss was 1-1-0 with a 2.06 GAA and a .935 SV% in two games (one start).

WILD LEADERS: D Alex Goligoski leads the Wild with 23 points (7-16=23) in 50 games vs. the Blues…Hartman (11-6=17, in 30 games) and RW Mats Zuccarello (7-10=17, in 27 games) have 17 points each…Spurgeon owns 14 points (4-10=14) in 50 games.

WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 11-12-2 with a 2.82 GAA and a .910 SV% in 25 career starts vs St. Louis…Gustavsson is 1-1-0 with a 2.58 GAA and a .921 SV% in two career starts.

BLUES LEADERS: Krug (6-2=26, in 25 games) and Schenn (9-17=26, in 32 games) lead St. Louis with 26 points…LW Brandon Saad owns 24 points (13-11=24) in 42 games…D Nick Leddy owns 19 points (3-16=19) in 33 contests.

BLUES GOALIES: Binnington is 7-3-1 with a 2.79 GAA, a .906 SV% and one shutout in 12 career starts against Minnesota…G Joel Hofer has not faced the Wild.

FAST FACTS: The Wild is 11-9-5 in its last 25 games vs. St. Louis…The Wild topped the Blues in the 2015 First Round, clinching the series with a Game 6 win in Saint Paul – marking the first time in franchise history Minnesota won a playoff series on home ice…The Blues defeated the Wild in the 2017 First Round and 2022 First Round.

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