Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 15th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The St. Louis Blues will greet experienced forward Brandon Saad back to the lineup for their first home game of the season on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.
Saad, who netted 26 goals last year, was absent from the Blues' first three away games as he awaited the arrival of his third child.
"I'm thrilled," Saad expressed. "Obviously, I missed the trip and need to get back into game mode. I felt good during training camp, was skating here, and working out while the team was away. I missed a few days of that due to the delivery, but otherwise, I feel prepared to play."
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Saad will start on the top line with center Robert Thomas and winger Jake Neighbours when the Blues hit the ice on Tuesday. Blues coach Drew Bannister didn't hesitate to put him in a key role during Monday's practice.
"I really liked (Saad's) performance during training camp, not just in practices, but also in a couple of preseason games he played," Bannister stated. "So let's see if we can create some chemistry there."
With forward Alexandre Texier being placed on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury, winger Zack Bolduc remained on the second line with Pavel Buchnevich at center and Jordan Kyrou on the right.
Saad's return allows Bannister to construct a third line with Dylan Holloway and Mathieu Joseph flanking center Brayden Schenn.
"I think that third line is going to be a strong line for us now," Bannister remarked.
St. Louis went 2-1 on their opening trip, securing comeback victories against the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks before falling short in a rally against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.
Minnesota is coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, following their 5-4 shootout loss to the Kraken at home on Saturday.
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Wild coach John Hynes was content with his team's response in the second game of a back-to-back.
"I thought the competitiveness of the group, the battle in a fatigued state, I have a lot of respect for," Hynes said. "I told the team it's about a culture and mindset, mental and physical toughness. I thought we had that yesterday, and at a high level. We knew it was going to be a tough road game."
Hynes believes fatigue had the biggest impact on the Wild's power play.
"You have to play hard in front of the net, in the corners," he explained. "When pucks go in, you have to fight hard. I thought we did a lot of that five-on-five, but on that late power play, it does affect you at times when you look at the schedule, a 7 p.m. and 5 p.m. game back-to-back. I don't think the power play didn't get the job done. I think it was a tough situation and we just couldn't make a play in that moment."
Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek (broken nose) and defenseman Jared Spurgeon (lower body) did not play in the game against Winnipeg. The Wild are hoping to have Eriksson Ek back in the lineup against the Blues.
Minnesota Wild vs. St. Louis Blues Recap MAR 15TH 2023
Ryan Hartman had two goals and an assist as the visiting Minnesota Wild rallied past the St. Louis Blues 8-5 Wednesday to extend their point streak to 14 games.
Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and two assists and Ryan Reaves and Alex Goligoski had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are 11-0-3 during their streak.
John Klingberg, Oskar Sundqvist and Mason Shaw also scored for Minnesota. Matt Boldy and Sam Steel had two assists and Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves.
Minnesota erased a 3-1 deficit with a five-goal outburst during the second period.
Pavel Buchnevich scored a hat trick and Jakub Vrana scored twice for the Blues, who have won just three of their last 13 games. Torey Krug had three assists and Robert Thomas had two.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington allowed five goals on 24 shots before getting ejected in the second period.
Buchnevich started the scoring after Krug's wide shot came back to him in front of the net. Minnesota tied the game with Eriksson Ek's power-play rebound conversion.
Vrana put the Blues up 3-1 by scoring twice with the man advantage.
The Wild countered by scoring three times during a 1:58 span of the second period to move ahead 4-3.
First, Klingberg scored from the blue line by shooting across the grain. Sundqvist jammed in a rebound to tie the game, then Shaw capped the rally by converting Reaves' cross-ice pass.
Buchnevich tied the game 4-4 when his pass toward Thomas caromed off Wild defenseman Jon Merrill's skate.
Hartman restored the Wild's lead with a power-play goal. He brushed Binnington while celebrating, prompting Binnington to hit him in the head with his blocker and earn a match penalty.
Goligoski's breakaway goal with 6:02 left in the second period made it 6-4.
Reaves pushed the lead to 7-4 in the third period by winning a goalmouth scramble. Hartman made it 8-4 after stealing a pass from goaltender Thomas Greiss, then Buchnevich completed his hat trick for the Blues.