Let's Go Blues

The St. Louis Blues will look to rebound in Game 4 after falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-7 series with the Minnesota Wild.

For the second consecutive game, Minnesota jumped out to an early lead - it was 2-0 just 2:18 into opening period.

"We came out with great energy, feeding off the building, and I thought we did some great things well, but maybe got too excited offensively," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said after the game. "Obviously we were down two early, and yeah, we need to respond quicker. We just kind of got a little frustrated, and it kind of just took the wind out of our sails. It was too tough to generate anything to kind of get the momentum back. Yeah, it was just difficult."

The concern for the Blues now is the health of their defensemen. Marco Scandella was a surprise return for Game 3, but Torey Krug left in the first period with a lower-body injury and will be out for awhile. Krug joins Nick Leddy (upper-body) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper-body) on the injured list.

Both Leddy and Bortuzzo joined the team late for practice Saturday, but their status is still unknown for Game 4.

Without Krug, Steven Santini or Scott Perunovich - who hasn't played since January because of a wrist injury - could enter the lineup.

"We knew it was going to be a long series, adversity and ups and downs," said Tyler Bozak. "We've got to get ready for the next one."

NOTEWORTHY STATS
- Under Craig Berube, the Blues are 7-1-0 against the Wild at Enterprise Center, outscoring them 36-20 in those games (including this postseason).

- The Blues' power play ranks fourth in the playoffs at 28.6 percent.

- Vladimir Tarasenko ranks second in Blues history in playoff goals with 36. In Game 4, Tarasenko will tie Al MacInnis for third in postseason games played (82).

THEY SAID IT
"These guys know, they're smart guys. They know what's going on. They know we need to be better... We've got to win a game and we're right there." - Craig Berube

"I think, obviously, we got pretty excited being back home with the crowd. And maybe sometimes we hit when we didn't need to or went out of our way to make a hit. We've got to be careful with that, running around too much, and just be poised, and we'll be ready for next game." - Tyler Bozak after a loss in Game 3 in St. Louis

"I just thought we simplified (our game). We weren't trying to go east-west. We were just getting pucks into the zone and skating, and that's the game, right? And you know, everybody talks about our team being a physical team, but we can skate." - Wild Head Coach Dean Evason

The Minnesota Wild hope to give the injury-depleted St. Louis Blues further grief and do it with their "GREEF line" Sunday in Game 4 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series in St. Louis.

The bulldozing forward line of Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno has spelled trouble for the Blues and has led the Wild to a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

"We take a lot of pride in going out there and doing whatever we need to do," Greenway said. "We usually played against the other team's top line. Not only to go out there and not allow them to score 5-on-5 but to go out and get a couple of goals is obviously a bonus. At the same time, we go there and expect to do that. We set high standards for ourselves."

Eriksson Ek had two goals and an assist in the Wild's 6-2 victory in Game 2 to square the series in Minneapolis. Friday in Game 3 in the Blues' building, Greenway scored 39 seconds into the game, Ek had a goal and an assist, and Foligno had two assists as Minnesota rolled to a 5-1 victory.

"It's big to go out and not allow them to get momentum from their crowd and being in their own arena," Greenway said. "I don't think I came out planning on scoring as quick as we did. But we definitely wanted to go out there and attack them as much as we can. And we did."

The GREEF line sets an aggressive forechecking tempo for the Wild, who figure to have their opportunities against the depleted Blues defensive corps.

The Blues got defenseman Marco Scandella back from his lower-body injury in Game 3, but they played without Robert Bortuzzo, Nick Leddy and Scott Perunovich due to upper-body injuries.

Then defenseman Torey Krug left Game 3 in the first period with a lower-body injury following a big body check against Matt Boldy.

"Yeah, (Krug is) a huge part of our back end and our power play, just the poise he has, the decision making, just how creative he is," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's tough. He goes down and we lose that part, but we are deep and we have to find a way.

"We have a lot of skill guys out there. We have to find a way to generate more and take control of the power play. It's another bad bounce losing him, but yeah, we'll reset, and we'll adjust and be ready to go for the next one."

Perunovich was on the ice during Saturday's practice, while both Leddy and Bortuzzo skated after practice. But Steven Santini, a recent recall from Springfield of the AHL, could be in line to replace Krug, who produced 43 points in 64 regular-season games and had three assists in the Blues' 4-0 Game 1 victory.

Santini could pair with another depth defenseman, Calle Rosen, in the third group. Niko Mikkola, who was a healthy scratch during the stretch run of the regular season, could be injected into a top four role.

"We'll get the guys regrouped and go play," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "It is what it is with the D-corps. They're banged up back there, but we've got to be simple back there, we've got to move the puck as quickly as we can and our forwards have to do a lot more than they're doing right now. That's the bottom line. They're not doing enough."