St. Louis Blues Weekend Roundup

Winning Streak

The St. Louis Blues have extended their winning streak to 3 games after last night’s home victory over the Minnesota Wild.

The hated Wild came into St. Louis after truly having the Note’s number in recent memory. The Blues dropped an early-season game in Minnesota earlier in October, and famously crashed out of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the hands of the Wild in 6 games last season.

Team captain, David Backes, hit his no. 1 and 2 goals of the year including the over time winner. The team has only given up 3 goals in the last 3 games. Vladimir Tarasenko, the team’s sharpshooting superstar, wasn’t able to play as he sat out with a minor injury, but the mighty St. Louis Blues still found a way to get 3 past Minnesota.

Tarasenko Injury Status

Ken Hitchcock discussed Tarasenko’s very minor leg injury before the game last night saying to STL Today, “We weren’t sure later in the day (Friday) with Vladi. We still held out hope that he was going to be able to play.”

Vladi wasn’t able to hit the ice, but the rest of the team stepped up in a big way to get Jake Allen his 4th consecutive win of the season. I’m looking to see how Hitch responds to these strong starts by Jake the Snake. If the St. Louis Blues want to have a clear no. 1 established well before playoff time, this is the time to do it. It appears that Jake Allen is the goalie of the future, he’s in his mid-20s, and has as much talent as anyone else in the game not named Carey Price.

The Note’s New Rival

STL Today’s Benjamin Hochman put together an interesting piece on the growing rivalry between the Blues and the Wild. Hitch spoke to STL Today about the growing rivalry with the “new” central division teams. As we’re all aware, the Chicago Blackhawks take the cake as the St. Louis Blues’ no. 1 rival, but don’t sleep on the Wild.

Apr 24, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) in the game against the Minnesota Wild during the first period of game five of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Minnesota Wild defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Wild have been playing tremendous hockey in recent memory, and that has continued into this season. Hitch understands how a rivalry is born.

"I think that’s where you build your rivalry. They beat us. We really played well against them for a long period of time, and then when they beat us in the playoffs. And then they beat us again in the first game (this season), that obviously gets your attention. I think you look at it right now, I would say they’re probably playing the best of anybody in the Central right now. I would say Nashville probably has a little bit of an argument, but I would say that (Minnesota is) playing the best hockey. They’ve played the most dynamic hockey of anybody in the Central, which is saying a lot because it’s such a good division. So to me, they have the firepower that other teams don’t have right now. Like (Friday), they get four scored on them and they score five. Even in the game in Winnipeg, they’re down 5-1 and made it 5-4 and probably could have scored another three or four goals in the last five minutes. So they’ve got a lot of firepower, and I think that’s what is coming through right now."

I’m excited to see the Blues take on the Wild a few more times this season. The Blues have to keep beating their divisional foes, and not letting up in these physical, rivalry games. The Note seems to have learned from their mistakes in last year’s playoffs, and will look to continue their win streak as they take on the LA Kings at home on Tuesday.

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