The St. Louis Blues traveled back into the United States following their 7-2 masterclass of a win over Ottawa earlier this week, and now faced a tough Minnesota Wild squad. This was going to be a truly fierce test of speed and will, and after 60 minutes, it became clear that the Blues are still far enough away from teams that usually secure playoff spots via the top-three positions in the Central Division.
A late rally was almost seen by the Blues, as the 5-2 lead was cut to 5-4, but that would be all she wrote. The Wild had too many chances via odd-man rushes, and their No. 1 power play in all of the NHL dismantled a very good penalty kill from the Blues.
This was a tough loss after such a huge high following the win in Ottawa to start this road trip. Let's go over some winners and, unfortunately, some losers.
Winners
Robert Thomas
Finally. The captain, Robert Thomas, finally started playing like himself again with a big late-game goal and added an assist as well to give him his first multi-point game for the 2026-27 season. It has been tough to watch No. 18 and his early-season struggles, but this might have been the game that kick-started his campaign, and hopefully, more success can come at an earlier part of the game going forward.
Cam Fowler
Adding three more assists against the Wild, Cam Fowler's season of redemption continues to be a highlight of the blue line. He now has four assists in the seven games this season.
Losers
Defensive unit as a whole
As a whole, the defensive unit was a bit of a tough watch in this game. A lot of pinching led to mismatches and odd-man rushes coming the other way, leaving goaltender Joel Hofer out to dry. The Wild have a very fast team, and nearly every line was moving as if the Blues were skating in slow motion. I am all about these defenseman coming down from the blue line to keep a puck in play, but when the graphic shows that the odd-man rushes are 5-1 at the start of the third period, that is a bit excessive.
Joel Hofer
Speaking of Hofer, this was not his strongest start of the season. Granted, the odd-man rushes and suiting up against a power-play unit that might break records by the end of the 2026-27 season, this was a harsh game for No. 30. He finished the game with 33 saves on 38 shots, and although the score was 5-4, it wasn't even that close. Now, it will likely be Binnington finishing off this three-game road trip with a visit to Nashville.
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