Preview: Blues vs. Wild tonight on Q94

BLUES The St. Louis Blues begin their home schedule Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild after a season-opening three-game road trip out west.

The Blues suffered their first loss of the season on Friday, falling 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights and bringing their record to 2-1-0. Pavel Buchnevich scored twice and Robert Thomas netted his first goal of the season, however the comeback attempt fell just short. Following the loss, Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister saw it as a learning opportunity for his team.

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“I think it’s a good benchmark for us,” Bannister said. “This is a team we played tonight that, they think they’re gonna be pushing for a Stanley Cup. And these are the teams that we’ve got to measure ourselves against and we can’t take shifts off, we can’t take nights off. So, it’s a good lesson for us. There’s some good teaching lessons that we can learn and be better and certainly we will have to be better come Tuesday.”

The Blues could also have Brandon Saad back in the lineup soon. The veteran forward was activated Monday after missing the road trip due to the birth of his third child. Additionally forward Alexandre Texier was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

The Blues begin a four-game homestand that kicks off with their Home Opener on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Prior to the game, fans are invited to Union Station for the Home Opener Rally at 2:30 p.m. Following the rally, fans with tickets will want to be in their seats at Enterprise Center by 6:15 p.m. for the reveal of this season’s opening show.

WILD The Minnesota Wild are 1-0-2 on the season coming into Tuesday night’s game in St. Louis.

After winning their season opener, the Wild have dropped two games in a row in extra time: a 5-4 shootout loss vs. the Seattle Kraken and 2-1 overtime loss in Winnipeg to the Jets. Tuesday’s contest is the second contest in a seven-game road trip for Minnesota.

This year marks Head Coach John Hynes’ first full season with the team after taking over the position in November of last year. Forward Kirill Kaprizov has been the success factor for the Wild the past four seasons, posting 170 goals and 330 career points for the team. With the Wild aiming for a playoff appearance, Kaprizov will be heavily counted on to help lead the team to the postseason.

The Wild missed the playoffs last season after finishing 10^th in the Western Conference, one spot behind the Blues.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Justin Faulk’s four points (one goal, three assists) leads Blues defensemen and is tied for third among all NHL blueliners this season heading into Monday’s slate of games. Last year, the assistant captain had 30 points (two goals, 28 assists) in 60 games played.

WILD Fourth-year forward Matt Boldy leads the Wild with five points (two goals, three assists) in three games and is tied for the team lead in goals and assists. Boldy was second on the team with 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists) in 75 games last season, trailing only Kaprizov.

BLUE NOTES

• This year is the 30th anniversary season of the team’s home venue, Enterprise Center. Coincidentally, Tuesday’s game comes on the anniversary of the first ticketed event in the history of Enterprise Center (initially known as Kiel Center) – a sold-out Billy Joel concert on Oct. 15, 1994.
• Jordan Binnington’s next start will be the 276th of his career, moving him ahead of Curtis Joseph for sole possession of 2nd on the Blues all-time franchise list (1. Liut, 339).
• Robert Thomas is expected to appear in his 400th career game. Thomas has a three-game point streak (one goal, three assists) to open the season.
• Parayko’s assist on Friday was the 200th of his career, becoming the sixth defenseman in franchise history to reach 200 assists (Jeff Brown, Al MacInnis, Alex Pietrangelo, Chris Pronger, Rob Ramage).
• Brandon Saad is one shy of 500 career points.