NBCSN’s coverage of the 2017-18 NHL season continues with a doubleheader on Tuesday night. In the early game, the Minnesota Wild host the St. Louis Blues at 8:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online by clicking here.
The St. Louis Blues are just one point out of a playoff spot, but that didn’t stop GM Doug Armstrong from unloading veteran Paul Stastny before Monday’s trade deadline. Even though the guys in the locker room probably weren’t thrilled about the move, Armstrong took a realistic look at his team and decided this wasn’t the year for them to push for the Stanley Cup.
“Crazy,” Blues forward Brayden Schenn said after the trade happened, per Jeremy Rutherford. “One or two points out, move a guy that does a lot for us. But at the end of the day, you know, that’s their decision. I guess we’ll see what happens here within the next hour.”
After getting off to a hot start, the Blues have come crashing back down to earth. They’ve lost six games in a row, including a pair of 4-0 decisions to against Winnipeg and Nashville in their last two outings.
Things won’t get much easier for them in the coming weeks, as they’ll play a home game against Detroit tomorrow before heading off on a four-game road swing that will take them to Dallas, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim.
It’ll be interesting to see how the group responds now that management has made it clear that help isn’t on the way.
As for the Wild, they were a little more quiet on trade deadline. Last year, they made a big splash by going to get Martin Hanzal, but they regretted it dearly in the end. This year, they shipped Mike Reilly to Montreal for a draft pick. They also lost Chris Stewart to Calgary on waivers. That’s it.
Minnesota heads into tonight’s game sitting in third place in the Central Division. They’re three points ahead of Dallas, who sits in the first Wild Card spot, and five points ahead of the Blues, who are on the outside of the playoff picture right now.
Since dropping back-to-back home games to Washington and Anaheim earlier this month, the Wild have rattled off four straight wins against the Islanders, Devils and Rangers all on the road, and they added another victory over the Sharks in overtime at home on Sunday.
In the late game, the Vegas Golden Knights will host the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 p.m. ET. You can watch that game online by clicking here.
Golden Knights GM George McPhee surprised everyone when he gave up three draft picks to land Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings. Not everyone agrees with the decision, but hey, who are we to criticize the architect of this remarkable story.
Heading into tonight’s game, Vegas is just two points behind Tampa for top spot in the league standings (the Golden Knights have a game in hand and an equal number of ROW).
This will be the second of a home-and-home series between them and the Kings. Last night, the Golden Knights got blew a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 OT loss to Los Angeles.
One of the positives that emerged from yesterday’s win, was Jeff Carter netting his first goal of the season. Carter has missed all but eight games because of an ankle injury he suffered back in October.
“I think Jeff’s had some good looks the last couple of games and I just think you see a little bit of some of those situations where if he had been playing all along he probably buries them, but he’s getting to spots where he’s getting opportunities and he’s going to get sharper as we move along here but it’s good to see that he’s getting those opportunities,” head coach John Stevens said after the game, per LA Kings Insider. “I think it’s only a matter of time before he starts to convert.”
After tonight’s game in Vegas, the Kings will enjoy plenty of time at home, as they’ll play seven of their next eight games at Staples Center.
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.