Record: 24-20-8 (5th, Central; 13th, West)
Leaders
Goals: David Backes- 18
Assists: Alexander Steen- 25
Points: Steen- 40
PIM’s: B.J. Crombeen- 96
Believe it or not. The Wild and Blues have yet to face each other this season. They will get their fill with games on back-to-back nights, as well as another two game set at the tail end or March. The last time the two teams met was September 24th, a preseason game notable less for the 5-0 Blues victory than for the fact that Josh Harding was slammed into by St. Louis’ Brad Boyes mid-way through the first period, ending his season with torn knee ligaments. That necessitated the signing of Jose Theodore, who will get the start tonight.
Youth in Revolt
St. Louis’ massive youth movement of a few seasons ago was supposed to have transitioned into a winner by now, but it is beginning to look like more work needs to be done to get the Blues back into the postseason (they made a surprise visit two years ago). Some of their young stars have been hit by injury this season. T.J. Oshie injured himself in a fight and has played just 21 games this season, while David Perron has missed all but 10 games due to a concussion suffered on this Joe Thornton hit (Thornton was suspended). Others, like Brad Boyes, Patrik Berglund and Erik Johnson have either seen their production dip or have not raised their game over the past few seasons, and as a result the Blues are still on the outside looking in.
Knockout Punch?
While it still seems too early to predict who will make it (aside from Vancouver) and who won’t (aside from Edmonton) in the Western Conference, the Wild have a chance to seriously damage the Blues’ chances this weekend. Consider this: two regulation wins would take the Wild to 65 points this season, nine ahead of St. Louis. That point total would not even guarantee that the Wild crack the top 8 over the next two nights, which would leave the Blues with a nine point gap and as many as four teams to hurdle just to get into ninth. To say that the Blues are in desperation mode is probably an understatement.
Turn Back the Clock? Please?
The Blues ended 2010 on a tear, winning five straight. Since the calendar has turned, however, nothing has gone right. Two wins out of three in February has taken some of the sting out of a brutal January, but the Blues are still 4-9-2 since the new year.
State of Hockey Connections
Erik Johnson grew up in Bloomington and attended the University of Minnesota while Backes grew up in Minneapolis before heading to Minnesota St. T.J. Oshie, though born in Washington, attended high school in Warroad before attending North Dakota.
Other Minnesotans in the Blues’ System
Jay Barriball- F (Prior Lake)
Max Gardiner- F (Edina)
Philip McRae- F (Minneapolis)
Andy Sackrison- F (St. Louis Park)
Max Tardy- F (Duluth)
Cade Fairchild- D (Duluth)
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