Central Division foes square off one final time this season when the playoff-bound Minnesota Wild visit the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
This is the third and final regular-season matchup between these teams. They have split the season series so far, with the Wild winning 5-0 in St. Louis back in October and the Blues getting revenge in Minnesota 3-1 last month.
The Wild (45-23-12, 102 points) are third in the Central Division and secured a playoff spot on April 2 after defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. Minnesota has made the Stanley Cup playoffs in six of the last seven seasons, but hasn’t won a playoff round since 2015.
John Hynes’ men are also looking to get back into the win column after losing two straight games. The Wild kicked off a three-game road trip by giving up a two-goal lead and falling 5-4 to the Dallas Stars, who will be their first-round playoff opponent.
“This is the game. Score more goals and win,” Kirill Kaprizov said after that loss. “It’s OK. We just keep going. We still have a couple of games left and just keep playing. It was a good game.
“I feel pretty good, and it’s always an exciting time. It’s the best time of the year. We still have a couple of games left and want to focus on those games.”
Then, the Wild were held off the scoreboard for two straight periods in a 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. In that game, Hynes scratched forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello, and defenseman Jared Spurgeon for rest.
“I want to see guys play to their personal identities, and I want to see the team be able to play the way we want to play, regardless of if guys are in and out of the lineup,” Hynes said after the loss in Nashville. “There’s a lot at stake for some guys in the lineup as well. Like, what is the final decision going into Game 1? And then also as a team, there are some habits and details and style of game that we want to play moving in (to the playoffs), regardless of if guys come in and out of the lineup.”
Meanwhile, the Blues (34-33-12, 80 points) have played well recently. They have won six of their last 10 games and stopped a two-game skid with a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks their last time out.
In that matchup, Alexey Toropchenko, Jordan Kyrou and Cam Fowler scored in the second period to escape a 2-1 hole and propel St. Louis to victory. However, the Blues were also mathematically eliminated from playoff contention that night due to the Los Angeles Kings defeating the Edmonton Oilers 1-0.
“I’m not going to really reflect on the team right now, but I can reflect on my own experience,” Blues head coach Jim Montgomery said. “It is the first time I missed the playoffs. I know I’m going to learn and grow from it because I realize some of the errors I’ve made and maybe some of the ways I didn’t stick to the way I believe to build a team throughout the year.
“This group, when we play the right way, we tend to play really well and tend to keep pucks out of our net and tend to win games by 4-2.”
