NHL Grind Down: Sunday, March 6th - Page Two
St. Louis Blues at Minnesota Wild – 08:00 PM EST
| St. Louis Blues | Minnesota Wild | ||||||||
 |  | Devan Dubnyk | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 37-20-9 | 31-25-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.45 | 2.39 | 21.80% | 86.30% | Team Stats | 2.64 | 2.47 | 19.30% | 75.80% |
The Blues finish up their four game road trip with a stop in Minnesota tonight to take on the Wild. After losing three straight, the Blues have now won their last two and seem to have third place in the Central division all to themselves. A couple of wins could do wonders however as they are just two points away from the top spot in the division. Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko have led the way over the last five games by posting seven and six points respectively over the last eight games. Jori Lehtera rounds out the top line but does but does not receive the power play time his line mates do which suppresses not only his value, but his production as well. David Backes makes a nice one-off play here as he does get the top power play minutes as he skates on the team’s third line. Backes has three goals and two assists in his last six games. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has picked it up a bit as he has four assists in his last six games while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. Paul Stastny, Troy Brouwer and Robby Fabbri make a nice tournament play here as they should have some room out there tonight skating on the team’s second line.
Minnesota continues to grind it out as they sit in the last playoff spot over the Colorado Avalanche by just two points in the Western conference. They also have a game in hand so a win tonight could go a long way. The top line of Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle is the play here against a Blues team that is not only injured, but has seen their top goalie placed on the shelf for a few weeks with an injury. All three players on the top line also get the top power play minutes and have each tallied three points over their last five games. Nino Niederreiter is the one-off play here as he has tallied three goals to go along with an assist in his last five games. Jason Pominville could be paired with Niederreiter as he skates with him on the team’s third line and has found the scoresheet six times over the last five games. Ryan Suter is the play on the point as he has tallied six assists in his last five games while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit.
Elite Plays
STL: Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko
MIN: Zach Parise, Ryan Suter
Secondary Plays
STL: Kevin Shattenkirk, Jori Lehtera, David Backes, Paul Stastny
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville, Charlie Coyle