ST. LOUIS -- Having not skated Friday, it doesn't appear the Blues will have Vladimir Tarasenko back to close out 2022 against the Minnesota Wild.
Or so it was believed.
The forward was a surprise late scratch prior to Thursday's 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks due to illness and then missing Friday's practice at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, but he was feeling good enough Saturday and will return against the Wild.
Coach Craig Berube wasn't sure on Friday but confirmed his availability for Saturday.
"He's playing; we'll see how he does out there," Berube said. "He feels pretty good, which is good and glad to have him back."
As for forward Pavel Buchnevich, who also missed Friday's practice, Berube said he is fine and just took a maintenance day.
"He's fine, yeah," Berube said.
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Berube talked about the defensive pair changes made for Thursday's game and liked how they progressed throughout the game, and also mentioned the need to get more ice time for blue liner Calle Rosen, who scored the eventual game-winner in the second period.
Rosen has scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his NHL career but logged just 11:37.
"Rosie came through again with a big goal," Berube said. "He's got to keep working and getting better. He's got a lot of potential, in my opinion."
Also, it was pretty evident that Nick Leddy enjoyed his time playing alongside Justin Faulk.
Leddy was a plus-1 and logged 21:22 ice time but his ability to transition the puck from defense to offense was evident. He even drew a penalty on Chicago's Taylor Raddysh late in the first period on one of his rushes up the ice.
"I thought in the second and third, he got a lot better and started skating the puck, made some good breakout plays just on his own, eluding people and getting up ice and skating the puck," Berube said of Leddy. "That's his game."
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Fortunately it came in a win, but the line of Ivan Barbashev, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou has seen better days.
That trio didn't really factor in the game much after having a good stretch of time on the ice together when the team was in Western Canada.
Kyrou, who leads the Blues with 17 goals, didn't register his first and only shot attempt, which was on goal, until 26 seconds into the third period. But that was it. Thomas had two shots on goal and Barbashev had one blocked, but the line's play just wasn't clean throughout.
"They just didn't really execute for me last night offensively," Berube said. "That was the biggest thing. Going back to that western trip, Barbashev was on that line and they really did produce and did a good job. That was the thought process going back with them. They just didn't execute. That's really what it boils down to.
"I think that the puck movement was slow between them and not crisp and clean and didn't create any opportunities because of that to me. They hung onto it, they got checked off it a lot of times, they bobbled the pass, they weren't clean with it and that didn't produce any chances."
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Berube chalked up Brayden Schenn's 11 shots on goal (15 attempts) with no goals as bad luck.
Schenn's shot total accounted for 37.9 percent of the Blues' 29 for the game. It was also his career high for one game.
"They don't go in sometimes," Berube said. "That's how I look at it. I don't know what to tell you. He shot the puck, that was good, but sometimes they don't go in."
Schenn has played on his off wing the past couple games with Ryan O'Reilly and Buchnevich and seems to be finding ways to shoot the puck.
"Yeah for sure and he can see the ice better I think opening up a little bit," Berube said. "But he's got a decent one-timer, a pretty good one-timer. I think him coming in off the off-wing like that, he's got a better angle with his shot too. Plus, he plays that side on the power play. It kind of all goes together."
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The Blues had their run of five straight games scoring a power play goal come to an end, and Berube didn't care for the execution despite getting five shots on goal in going 0-for-3.
"Not good, no," Berube said. "It's been trending in the right direction. I think last night again, with Kyrou and Thomas and that unit, they didn't move the puck quick enough. It was too slow, and they got checked off it a bunch and just really didn't get any opportunities. O'Reilly and those guys, they actually were OK. They had some good opportunities on the power play just from generating quick puck movement (and) shooting."
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Saturday's game for the Blues (17-16-3) against the Wild (20-13-2) is the first game since last season's first round matchup in the playoffs, a series the Blues won in six games.
It will also come 364 days after the 2022 Winter Classic at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, a game in which the Blues won 6-4.
"They've been playing well," Berube said of the Wild. "I know they got beat last night, but there will be a lot of motivation going back to last year. They're a tough team to play. It's going to be a hard game.
"The Boldy kid's in his second year now; he's a helluva player. Good size, skill. Bringing in (former Blue Ryan) Reaves, Reavo's got a lot of gamesmanship with him, big and physical. I think their identity really hasn't changed even going back to last year. They brought (Nic) Deslauriers in. They've got some big guys up front, good puck-moving d-corps. A solid team."
Including the playoffs, the Blues are 17-3-2 the past 22 games going back to Feb. 17, 2019 against the Wild, including 13-1-2 in the regular season.
They were 3-0-0 last season, have won five in a row in the regular season and have a 10-game point streak (9-0-1) against Minnesota. The 10-game point streak against the Wild ties their longest against Minnesota; they also were 9-0-1 from Nov. 11, 2011-March 27, 2014.
Why the success?
"I think just matching up with them with how the game has to be played, I think, more than anything," Berube said. "We understand what kind of game they're going to play and we've risen to the occasion."
The Blues and Wild will have a 5 p.m. puck drop on New Year's Eve (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Pavel Buchnevich-Ryan O'Reilly-Brayden Schenn
Ivan Barbashev-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad-Noel Acciari-Josh Leivo
Alexey Toropchenko-Logan Brown-Nathan Walker
Niko Mikkola-Colton Parayko
Nick Leddy-Justin Faulk
Calle Rosen-Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington is expected start in goal; Thomas Greiss would be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Tyler Pitlick and Tyler Tucker. Vladimir Tarasenko (illness) is questionable. Torey Krug (lower body), Marco Scandella (hip) and Scott Perunovich (shoulder) are out.
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The Wild's projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Ryan Hartman
Matt Boldy-Frederick Gaudreau-Samuel Walker
Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Jacob Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison
Marc-Andre Fleury is projected to start in goal; Filip Gustavsson would be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Alex Goligoski and Adam Beckman. Marcus Foligno (lower body) could play after skating Friday. Brandon Duhaime (upper body) is out.