Last game of the calendar year. Let's make it count and then ring in the New Year like kings! But not the L.A. Kings, 'cause they are le douches. But king of kings! But not like Jesus, 'cause that would be blasphemy.
Let's just ring in the New Year on a high note. Mmmkay?
BLUES (26-7-5) at WILD (20-16-5)
TV: FS-MW, FS-N
Last 10: St. Louis 7-1-2; Minnesota 3-7-0
Blue Notes: Jaden Schwartz has goals in five consecutive games and Kevin Shattenkirk leads all NHL defensemen with a six-game point streak (three goals, three assists). The Blues have beaten the Wild in six consecutive games. Minnesota hasn't scored against the Blues in back-to-back games (153:01). Brian Elliott will start in goal. The Blues have points in six consecutive road games (4-0-2).
Season series: This is the second of five games between the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild. Alexander Steen scored two goals and Jaroslav Halak stopped all 22 shots he faced as the Blues defeated the Wild 3-0 on Nov. 25 at Scottrade Center.
Big story: The Wild are coming off their most disappointing loss of the season, a 5-4 home defeat to the New York Islanders on Sunday in a game where Minnesota led 3-0 in the second period. Overall, the Wild have lost five straight and have slipped to fifth place in the Central Division standings.
Team Scope:
Blues: The Blues enter play Tuesday alone in second place in the Central Division with 57 points and the best goal differential in the NHL at plus-45. The Blues are coming off perhaps their most impressive 24-hour stretch of the season, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 in St. Louis on Saturday night before winning again Sunday, 3-2 at the Dallas Stars. It took a shootout to win against Chicago and overtime to beat the Stars, but the victories kept the Blues undefeated in Central Division play this season (12-0-1).
"Yeah, I think we're happy with getting four points out of four," forward Jaden Schwartz said. "Pretty gutsy wins by us, a nice comeback win [Saturday] and kind of a character win for us [Sunday]. So it's definitely nice getting that extra point both nights."
The Blues have defeated the Wild in six straight meetings dating back to Nov. 19, 2011, a game the Wild won 3-2 in a shootout.
Wild: It's hard to believe Minnesota was once one of the hottest teams in the NHL. After starting November 9-1-1 and climbing to within two points of the division-leading Blackhawks, the Wild's 3-0 loss to the Blues before Thanksgiving started a tailspin that's only gotten worse of late. The Wild are 5-11-1 since that loss and have dropped to 10th place in the Western Conference.
One of the worst road teams in the League, Minnesota concluded a four-game trip (all losses) last Friday against the Winnipeg Jets and returned to St. Paul for a critical four-game homestand. Only three teams have more home victories than the Wild this season, but even that couldn't stop the bleeding Sunday against the Islanders.
"Obviously, everybody is frustrated," forward Nino Niederreiter said. "That's a game we should have won. We all know what's going to happen, we have a big game against St. Louis. It's a must-win for us."
Who's hot: Schwartz has scored a goal in five straight games and has already established new career highs in goals, assists and points in 36 games this season. His 13 goals are tied for third-most on the Blues and his plus-18 is also a team high. … Wild defenseman Ryan Suter saw his career-high (and franchise record for a defenseman) seven-game point streak end last Friday in Winnipeg but started a new streak Sunday against the Islanders. His goal 3:22 into the game was his first of the season and fifth since joining the Wild prior to last season. His 22 assists this season are tied with Mikko Koivu for best on the team.
Injury report: Steen (concussion) is out for St. Louis. Captain David Backes (upper-body), who was hurt Saturday against the Blackhawks and missed the game Sunday against the Stars, is questionable. … Wild forward Zach Parise (lower body) and defenseman Clayton Stoner (lower body) are out. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon (undisclosed) missed practice Monday and is questionable.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
Nice to see Blues take a W to close 2013. Now let''s hope 2014 starts with a W as well. I'm going, and if Chicago game I went to is an indication, it will be a high-scoring thriller of a shootout win for the good guys!
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I didn't want to post in the initial post of this thread for fear of jinx, but the Blues just finished the 2013 portion of the calendar undefeated in regulation in the Central Division. Friggin' amazing. Keep it up, fellas.
Shame the shutout streak had to end with 8 seconds left, but the 2 points are more important than anything and we didn't crap a point into the division.
New year resolution for 2014:
Except, you know, with someone in The Note doing this.
Last edited by dmiles2186 on Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
Dude, shame on you for polluting my computer with gifs of Mark Messier hoisting The Cup. You couldn't pick a different team, maybe the Hurricanes? You had to pick the Rags?
glen a richter wrote:Dude, shame on you for polluting my computer with gifs of Mark Messier hoisting The Cup. You couldn't pick a different team, maybe the Hurricanes? You had to pick the Rags?
It was either Mess, the Wings, or the Hawks. I went with the least offensive option. I was surprised at how few gifs of hoisting the Stanley Cup are out there. Shame on the internet, I say.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
glen a richter wrote:Dude, shame on you for polluting my computer with gifs of Mark Messier hoisting The Cup. You couldn't pick a different team, maybe the Hurricanes? You had to pick the Rags?
It was either Mess, the Wings, or the Hawks. I went with the least offensive option. I was surprised at how few gifs of hoisting the Stanley Cup are out there. Shame on the internet, I say.
Least offensive to whom? June 1994 was miserable for me, seeing all those smug ass Rangers fans celebrating.
glen a richter wrote:Dude, shame on you for polluting my computer with gifs of Mark Messier hoisting The Cup. You couldn't pick a different team, maybe the Hurricanes? You had to pick the Rags?
It was either Mess, the Wings, or the Hawks. I went with the least offensive option. I was surprised at how few gifs of hoisting the Stanley Cup are out there. Shame on the internet, I say.
Least offensive to whom? June 1994 was miserable for me, seeing all those smug ass Rangers fans celebrating.
Okay, it's been changed. Now we can all watch a former Blues player hoist the Cup as the Captain of a team that isn't the Blues. Now I'm miserable.
2015-2016 LGB Sponsor of Not Ott, because he is a booger-eating dumb dumb
'ed
