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GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:05 am
by dmiles2186
Remember, game time was moved from 5 PM to 7 PM.
WILD (2-2-0) at BLUES (4-1-0)

TV: NBCSN, TSN2

Season series: This is the first of three meetings. Minnesota won two last season before losing the third in a shootout; those games ended regulation 2-1, 2-2 and 2-2. St. Louis won the final matchup, 4-0.

Big story: The Blues are off to a 4-1-0 start thanks to two come-from-behind wins, the latest Friday night over the Dallas Stars, 4-3. They have been helped early in this short season by having an almost identical roster to last season's 109-point club.

"I think we've done a good job coming back and feeling right at home again," defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk told FOX Sports Midwest on Saturday. "It's nice come to back to a locker room that's pretty much the same for the most part."

However, St. Louis sits in second place in the Central Division, behind the 5-0-0 Chicago Blackhawks, and is tied with the 4-0-0 San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference.

Minnesota has lost two in a row after winning its first two. The Wild started last season 3-3-3 before winning 17 of their next 21 games.

"It's way too early to start panicking," Wild coach Mike Yeo said Saturday. "I mean we're 2-2 and things could be very different, but at the same time we shouldn't accept the fact that we've lost two in a row here. So everybody's got to kind of demand a little bit more."

Team scope:

Wild: Zach Parise was signed as a free agent to improve the Wild offense, and he has. Playing on a line with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley, the trio has six of the team's nine goals, and has taken 51 of its 123 shots.

But three of those six goals have come on the power play, leaving Yeo looking for more even-strength success from the entire team.

"Five-on-five we have to get some dirtier goals," Yeo said. "We're looking to make a lot of plays, a lot of nice plays to the middle of the ice, and a lot of times they're not there. So we have to find a way to generate more pucks to the net, with bodies around the net, whether it's coming from the blue line, or whether it's coming off the rush."

Ryan Suter was signed to improve the defense, but he has been on ice for eight of the Wild's 10 goals allowed, according to the Star Tribune. Yeo said failure on offense has been leading to defensive breakdowns.

"We're not losing just because we're not scoring at those key moments," Yeo said. "We're losing the last couple games because we're not scoring at the key moments and then we're making a big mistake."

Goalie Josh Harding started all four games against the Blues last season and was excellent, stopping 132 of 141 shots (.936). But Niklas Backstrom likely will start Sunday. This season, Backstrom is 1-1-0 with 48 saves, a 2.52 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. Harding's numbers are 1-1-0, 46 saves, 2.56 GAA, .902.

Blues: David Perron scored his first two goals of the season Saturday, and newcomer Wade Redden had his first in the NHL since March 18, 2010. Perron also was one of six players to have an assist.

After trailing 2-1, St. Louis led 4-2 before Dallas rallied to almost tie.

"Well, I think we had them buried and we let them up off the mat," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Saturday. "Then they came after us in the third period at the end there. Those are lessons learned to get ready for next game. If we play like this tomorrow night in the third period, we're going to lose by about six."

Jaroslav Halak (3-0-0) got his first win that wasn't a shutout, but Brian Elliott likely will get his second start Sunday when the Blues play for the sixth time in nine days. After this, they'll have three days off.

"This is probably the toughest (part of our) schedule," general manager Doug Armstrong told FS-MW. "We've got the find a way get points out of tomorrow's game before it gets into a smoother rhythm."

Blues players will wear "No. 6 Musial" jerseys in warm-ups to honor St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial, who passed away last Saturday. The jerseys will be auctioned for charity.

Who's hot: Parise had three goals and three assists; Heatley has three goals. … Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck has 17 hits. … Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk and rookie forward Vladimir Tarasenko have at least a point in four of five games. … Forward Chris Stewart has three goals in five games; it took him 14 games to get to three last season, 23 to get to four.

Injury report: Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (foot) likely will not play. … The Blues have no injuries

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:47 am
by Frusciante
Hoping Elliott will be in goal tonight.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:53 am
by glen a richter
Since the Blues only played 1 period last night, they should be well rested for today and amped up at home, going into the long break.

Blues 4
North Stars 0

Ells with 22 saves in the shutout, Tarasenko and Perron with two apiece.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:41 am
by AlsWoodenStick
Bringing my mother to the game, she's from Minn. but she'll be rooting for the Blues.
Blues 3, North Stars 1, Ells with less than 20 saves, Frank, Perron & Pie find the back of the net.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:22 am
by philco_3
1-0 for the Blues. Boring game. Hey the Royal Rumble will be on tonight, I wish they would have it on at Scottrade.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:59 am
by sseagle
Wait, we just played the north stars, now we play the north stars ?

GAME ON?

(ps -shit announcers tonight boys!)

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:53 pm
by gaijin
Hoping I'm wrong, but so far it looks like this is going to be a season where we wonder every game which Blues team will show up.

At any rate, 2 points, please. :letsgoblues:

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:02 pm
by theohall
gaijin wrote:Hoping I'm wrong, but so far it looks like this is going to be a season where we wonder every game which Blues team will show up.

At any rate, 2 points, please. :letsgoblues:
The good thing - even when they are off their game, they are still winning. When the Blues play full games, like they have in the last two home games, they are dominant. Seriously beginning to wonder if this is more of a line matchup issue on the road than we realize - although Pietrangelo playing like crap last night was a big factor that had nothing to do with line changes.

2 points, please, also.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:06 pm
by fargoblues
Note 3 - (ENG)
Mild 1

I'm in Bismarck, ND tonight. Hopefully these yokels have NBCSN somewhere in a bar. :facepalm:

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:35 pm
by sseagle
fargoblues wrote:Note 3 - (ENG)
Mild 1

I'm in Bismarck, ND tonight. Hopefully these yokels have NBCSN somewhere in a bar. :facepalm:
You are saying that cause you are going to a pipe laying contest and you don't want us to know...




























:okman:

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:52 pm
by dmiles2186
Pierre McGuire called this a 'huge rivalry' game to Parise in a pre-game interview. Not sure this is what I'd classify as a 'huge rivalry.' Blues-Wild play close games quite often it seems, but not quite a rivalry.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 8:17 pm
by gaijin
dmiles2186 wrote:Pierre McGuire called this a 'huge rivalry' game to Parise in a pre-game interview. Not sure this is what I'd classify as a 'huge rivalry.' Blues-Wild play close games quite often it seems, but not quite a rivalry.
If it were the North Stars, yeah, but the Wild? Not so much. :facepalm:

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:50 pm
by sseagle
Stealing points in shitty games...

If we get rolling... I'd hide in a shelter when the 'note was on my schedule.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:56 pm
by glen a richter
Another mess of a game and a fortunate two points. Take a day to recoup then practice the hell out of these boys. The sloppiness has to stop.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:51 pm
by tjk002
glen a richter wrote:Another mess of a game and a fortunate two points. Take a day to recoup then practice the hell out of these boys. The sloppiness has to stop.
Just got home. Couldn't agree more. I know Pie was a star of the game with his 3 assists. But boy did he look like crap defensively. Not sure if that last goal by the Wild was legit or not, but I blame Berglund on that one. Took a very lazy approach at the Blue line. Still love the way Backes plays out there. The #1 line of Oshie, Backes and Peron is defintely back to being the #1 line.

Oh yeah, and Elliot looked very shakey to me.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:31 pm
by philco_3
dmiles2186 wrote:Pierre McGuire called this a 'huge rivalry' game to Parise in a pre-game interview. Not sure this is what I'd classify as a 'huge rivalry.' Blues-Wild play close games quite often it seems, but not quite a rivalry.
I know the last few years both these teams dislike each other very much. It wasnt as ugly as past games, but I would consider it a rivalry.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:34 pm
by theohall
Didn't get to see this one tonight - other commitments - and it's not up yet on the PC or Roku - thanks NBC for screwing me.... When the game is up, comments will be made.

Outside of that - 5-1 - 10 points out of 12 in the first 6 with a 4 day break - hard to complain about the early success - even if it seems like the Blues should have had 12 of 12 and the close games should not have been so close.

What is scary - Chicago being 6-0 with 4 road wins. Yes, two of the 4 were vs Detroit and Columbus, but they are still undefeated on the road, which will only give them confidence.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:38 pm
by cprice12
WTF NBC Sports?!?!?
I rarely get to watch games live because I am usually getting my 3yr old and 1 yr old baths and putting them to bed, so I set my DVR (directv) to record. I set it to record 1.5 hours past the schedule end time to make sure I got any possible OT and any post game stuff.
Well, apparently the game was mistakenly listed to start at 5pm and I guess end around 7:30...so that is what my DVR went by.
I missed the entire 3rd period and OT.

NBC, don't (Frank) with my ability to watch the Blues. I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish.

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

I want to complain to someone just so I can bitch about it. I'll probably call DirecTV in a minute just to ruin someone's night, because hey, mine was ruined.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:55 pm
by cprice12
So I called Directv.
They offered a free movie station for 3 months.
I asked for free Center Ice. (I felt kind of stupid asking for it for just missing the 3rd period and OT, but I figured it couldn't hurt.)
They didn't give it to me, but we settled on a $20 credit on my account.

It's something.

Re: GDT #6: 1/27/13 > Blues vs Wild > 7:00 PM > NBCSN/KMOX

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:08 am
by dmiles2186
Ugly game for the Blues but a win, nonetheless. Same thing I said about the Stars game applies here. Wild were the better team last night, but the Blues were able to dig deep, roll 4 lines, and claw back into the game. I was okay with stealing just one point, but to get the OT win was a bonus. 6 games in 9 days and the Blues start 5-1-0. This 3 day break is much needed.

Perron is looking more and more confident with the puck. The work he did on the Bergie goal was flat out amazing.

2 goals from Redden already? It's early, but he's already looking like a steal.

The 'Trade sounded fiery last night. I like it.

Pierre McGuire is a douche.