Central Division matchup critical for each team's fading playoff hopes; loser can likely look towards future with trade deadline looming March 8
ST. LOUIS -- Let's face it, with the Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings putting separation between those teams chasing them for the two wild card spots in the Western Conference, two of them being the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild, the loser of Saturday's 5 p.m. tilt (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM) between the Blues (30-26-3) and Wild (28-26-6), if they don't have an eye for the future, can probably begin to look in that direction.
The Predators can't seem to lose these days, after winning their seventh in a row Thursday by blasting the Wild (6-1), and the Kings impressively went into Vancouver and punched the Canucks in the mouth with a 5-1 win Thursday. Each leads the Blues by seven points.
Oh, and by the way, Nashville's run began here on Feb. 17 when they beat the Blues 5-2.
"The focus is one game at a time, doing our job and then watching the results come," Blues goalie Jordan Binnington said.
"We've got to get back in the win column quick and start making a good push," Blues center Robert Thomas said. "We've still got lots of time. Obviously they're making their push now. I think they've won seven in a row. We've got to start going and gaining some ground. We've got two games in hand on them and it's important to win those two and make it within three points. That's the way we're going to look at it. I think we're at a point now where we control our own destiny. We don't need to scoreboard watch and look at others. That's our mindset and the way we've got to approach it."
That's an understatement, and it's natural to be scoreboard watching these days, and with the NHL Trade Deadline a week away (March 8 at 2 p.m. CT), losing will give the respective general managers a sense of direction of which way to go.
"Yeah, but at the same time, you can only control what you can control," Thomas said. "I think that feel is still we control our own fate. We don't need to watch other teams and worry about them. We've got a big game against them later in the season. Just control what you can control and I think we're still in a position not to panic yet, but we need to get going."
The Blues do have two games in hand on Nashville and one matchup left with the Predators in April, but while the Predators and Kings are winning, the Blues are in a 2-5-1 rut that has put them in the predicament they're in.
With 23 games remaining, they're probably at a point where they have to put a winning streak of their own together.
"Yeah, but you can't think like that, right," Binnington said. "You know that's the case, but you've got to get one before you get three, right? Hopefully we can build some consecutive, consistent games here of just playing hard, playing the right way. We played hard last game (a 3-2 overtime loss against the Edmonton Oilers) and we didn't get the result we wanted. That's hockey.
"... You can focus on what you can control, right? It's just playing our game. We can't do anything about other teams and what they're up to. We've got to focus on ourselves, and we have it in here. We have the ability to produce and do great things and get into the playoffs. That's our focus."
Blues interim coach Drew Bannister was asked if it gets tough watching what's going on around them and not being able to do anything about it.
"I don't think so," he said. "If it's not them, it's somebody else. All we can do is worry about ourselves right here and not get ourselves watching the standings. We've got to win hockey games and take care of what we have to do and not worry about what other teams are doing."
That's why the game against the Wild is so critical.
"They're all big," Bannister said. "We have to be better in these games. Previous (ones), we haven't played well. Tomorrow's an important game for us and we have to be better. We certainly have to be ready from the start."
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The Blues practiced Friday at Enterprise Center and captain Brayden Schenn, who took an awkward spill in the third period Wednesday and got tangled up, did not skate with the group.
Schenn did come in the ice late when the Blues were entertaining Ronan Moore, a Make-A-Wish 15-year old fan that battled leukemia.
"Just a maintenance day today," Bannister said. "He was out at the end, kind of skating alone, by himself, and he'll skate again in the morning. I don't foresee there being any issue moving forward with it."
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With the way the lines and defensive pairs were rolling and Scott Perunovich back manning the second power-play unit, the defenseman will be returning to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Wednesday.
As for forward Kasperi Kapanen, also a healthy scratch Wednesday, he also will rejoin the lineup.
"The guys that missed some ice time in Detroit played well for us," Bannister said, referring to Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. "That was a good sign. Certainly at this time of the year, I don't think we should be having these kind of conversations. These are meaningful games, these are games where you should be coming to the rink and having fun and guys should just have to play. So we shouldn't be having these conversations, but we are. We'll see the response we get from some of those players tomorrow."
That means Tyler Tucker and Nikita Alexandrov, who were on the ice Saturday morning with Sammy Blais as extra skaters, are coming out of the lineup.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad-Brayden Schenn-Jake Neighbours
Zachary Bolduc-Kevin Hayes-Alexey Toropchenko
Nathan Walker-Oskar Sundqvist-Kasperi Kapanen
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella-Scott Perunovich
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Nikita Alexandrov, Tyler Tucker and Sammy Blais. The Blues report no injuries.
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The Wild's projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson-Marco Rossi-Mats Zuccarello
Brandon Duhaime-Connor Dewar-Ryan Hartman
Jake Lucchini-Frederick Gaudreau-Vinni Lettieri
Jacob Middleton-Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin-Declan Chisholm
Jon Merrill-Zach Bogosian
Marc-Andre Fleury will start in goal; Filip Gustavsson will be the backup.
Healthy scratches could include Alex Goligoski, Mason Shaw and Dakota Mermis. Marcus Foligno (lower body), Pat Maroon (back) and Jared Spurgeon (hip) are out.
