Wild-St. Louis game preview

March 25, 2021 at 1:03AM
Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba (24) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Wild defenseman Matt Dumba has missed the past three games because of a lower-body injury, but might return Thursday night to face the Blues. (David Zalubowski, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

7 p.m. vs. St. Louis at Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 100.3-FM

Matchup once delayed, now set

Preview: This is the first matchup of the season between the Wild and Blues. These teams were originally supposed to play in February, but those games were postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak suspended the Wild's season. St. Louis hasn't played since Monday, when it fell 5-1 to Vegas. It's possible Wild D Matt Dumba returns after sitting out the past three games with a lower-body injury.

Players to watch: Wild G Kaapo Kahkonen is 4-0 in his past four starts at home. RW Nick Bjugstad has seven points in his past nine games at Xcel Energy Center. … Blues D Vince Dunn has a goal in each of his past two games. LW David Perron's 33 points are the most on the Blues.

Numbers: Wild D Jared Spurgeon is coming off his fifth career multigoal game after scoring twice Wednesday vs. Anaheim. The Wild has five power-play goals over its past eight games. … St. Louis is 12-4-2 on the road. Perron and C Brayden Schenn are tied for the team lead in goals with 12.

Injuries: Wild F Marcus Foligno (lower body) is out. Blues Fs Oskar Sundqvist (torn ACL), Ivan Barbashev (ankle), Tyler Bozak (upper body) and Mackenzie MacEachern (upper body) and Ds Colton Parayko (upper body) and Carl Gunnarsson (knee) are out.

Sarah McLellan

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