ST. LOUIS – The Wild and Blues are about to get extremely familiar with each other.
Kaapo Kahkonen starts as Wild begins three-game series vs. Blues
The Wild will play three in a row against the Blues starting Friday at Enterprise Center.
April 9, 2021 at 5:19PM
Not only is Friday's matchup at Enterprise Center the start of a back-to-back and three in a row overall, but the game is the first of seven head-to-head battles the rest of the season.
St. Louis trails the third-place Wild by 10 points in the West Division, sitting fifth.
"We were able to come out on top [last game]," coach Dean Evason said, referring to the 2-0 win at Xcel Energy Center on March 25 in which the Wild was outshot 37-11. "But they had the majority of the play. They shot the puck all the time. We have to keep them out of our zone. Our forecheck early and often has to be there to keep them out, obviously, of our end."
Kaapo Kahkonen will get the start for the Wild, his first since a 4-2 loss at San Jose on March 31.
Marcus Foligno accompanied the team to St. Louis and participated in the Wild's morning skate, but he will not play Friday. He'll be evaluated to see if he can suit up Saturday. Foligno hasn't played since suffering a lower-body injury on March 12.
Fellow winger Nick Bjugstad (upper-body injury) did not make the trip.
"Big part of our hockey club," Evason said of Foligno. "Obviously does a lot of things for our group. He's on the trip, skating this morning, and we'll just monitor his development and when they tell us he's ready to go, then he'll be in."
Projected lineup:
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Johansson
Kirill Kaprizov-Victor Rask-Mats Zuccarello
Kevin Fiala-Ryan Hartman-Nick Bonino
Zach Parise-Luke Johnson-Kyle Rau
Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy-Ian Cole
Kaapo Kahkonen
Key numbers:
11: Points for winger Kevin Fiala during his seven-game point streak.
98: Career assists for Fiala.
6: Points on the power play for Fiala over his past four games.
13: Goals on the power play for the Wild since March 10.
7-8-4: Record for the Wild over its last 19 trips to St. Louis.
About the Blues:
St. Louis snapped a seven-game losing streak on Wednesday against Vegas, winning 3-1. Goalie Jordan Binnington made a career-high 50 saves vs. the Golden Knights. Binnington is 4-0-1 when making at least 40 saves. The victory also ended an eight-game slide for the Blues on home ice. Overall, St. Louis is 5-9-4 at Enterprise Center this season.
The Wild prevailed 5-4 on Tuesday night, moving back into first place in the NHL with a hard-fought victory in their first trip to Utah. Matt Boldy scored the winner in the shootout.
