NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Sunday night’s matchup between the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
The Wild have won two straight games – both on the road – most recently defeating the New York Rangers 4-1 on Thursday and the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Friday. They return home to face the Blues, where they have lost six straight games (0-4-2 record). Minnesota’s last home win came over a month ago on Jan. 19 – prior to the All-Star break.
Minnesota has allowed four-plus goals in each of their last six home losses. They were shut out 4-0 in each of their last two home games (lost 4-0 vs STL on Feb. 17 and lost 4-0 vs ANA on Feb. 19).
On Wednesday, after losing their ninth game in the last 10, the Wild traded Charlie Coyle to Boston for Ryan Donato and a conditional draft pick. Since the trade, Minnesota has won both of their games played.
The Blues hosted the Bruins yesterday afternoon and won 2-1 in a shootout. Jordan Binnington made 31 saves on 32 shots in the win. St. Louis has now won 12 of their last 13 games.
Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko is second on the team with 52 points and leads the team with 27 goals this season. He’s currently on pace for 36 goals – a number that did not seem likely earlier this season. His career-high 12-game point streak was snapped in Tuesday’s win over Toronto. He now has 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in the last 15 games.
On the morning of Jan. 3, the Blues were in last place in the NHL with 34 points. Since then, they have gone 18-5-1, the best mark in the NHL during that span. In the expansion era, only six teams have made the playoffs after occupying last place in the League after their 20th game of the season: the 1976-77 North Stars, 1979-80 Oilers, 1982-83 Maple Leafs, 1987-88 Kings, 1987-88 Maple Leafs and 1996-97 Senators. [WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6 P.M. ET – NBCSN]
What: St. Louis Blues at Minnesota Wild Where: Xcel Energy Center When: Sunday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Blues-Wild stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLUES Jaden Schwartz - Ryan O’Reilly - Vladimir Tarasenko Patrick Maroon - Tyler Bozak - Robert Thomas Alex Steen - Oskar Sundqvist - Samuel Blais MacKenzie MacEachern - Ivan Barbashev - Zach Sanford
Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo Jay Bouwmeester - Colton Parayko Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo
Starting goalie: Jake Allen
WILD Jordan Greenway - Eric Staal - Jason Zucker Zach Parise - Mikael Granlund - Pontus Aberg Ryan Donato - Joel Eriksson Ek - Luke Kunin Marcus Foligno - Eric Fehr - J.T. Brown
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin - Greg Pateryn Anthony Bitetto - Brad Hunt
Starting goalie: Devan Dubnyk
Chris Cuthbert (play-by-play) and Brian Boucher (‘Inside-the-Glass’) will have the call from Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Pre-game coverage starts at 6 p.m. ET with NHL Live, hosted by Kathryn Tappen with Keith Jones and Anson Carter.