Philip Broberg (right) and the St. Louis Blues close out a six-game road trip vs. Mats Zuccarello and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. (Matt Blewett-Imagn Images)Now looking back on it, Thursday's loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the St. Louis Blues was an even bigger kick in the pants.
With the chance to not only gain two points on three competitors surrounding them, the Blues (31-28-7) could have gained even more leverage when the Calgary Flames and Utah Hockey Club each lost in regulation on Friday.
But as it stands, the Blues (69 points), who close out this six-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild (37-24-5) at 7 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM), still trail the Flames and Vancouver Canucks by two points with each of those teams having one game in hand and they're tied with Utah on level grounds of 66 games played.
Tonight will be the start of back to back games. The Blues return home after the game for a quick turnaround to face the Anaheim Ducks at 5 p.m. on Sunday, which begins a final stretch of nine of the final 15 games played on home ice.
And it will be Joel Hofer getting the start for the Blues against the Wild, with Jordan Binnington, who was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots Thursday, the likely starter against the Ducks on Sunday.
Blues coach Jim Montgomery won't make any lineup changes among the 18 skaters, and why should he? The Blues played a solid team game for the most part on Thursday, outshooting the Penguins 36-22. The lineup's played consistent since the 4 Nations Face-Off.
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich
Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler-Nick Leddy
Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter-Tyler Tucker
Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Alexandre Texier and Matthew Kessel. Colton Parayko (knee) is out. Torey Krug (ankle) is out for the season.
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Wild Projected Lineup:
Matt Boldy-Marco Rossi-Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson-Frederick Gaudreau-Gustav Nyquist
Marcus Foligno-Ryan Hartman-Vinnie Hinostroza
Yakov Trenin-Devin Shore-Justin Brazeau
Jake Middleton-Brock Faber
Declan Chisholm-Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill-Zach Bogosian
Filip Gustavsson will start in goal; Marc-Andre Fleury will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include David Jiricek and Brendan Gaunce. Kirill Kaprizov (lower body), Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body) and Jonas Brodin (lower body) are out.