April 16 could be a big day in St. Louis. With a season sweep of Minnesota, the St. Louis Blues will secure a spot in the NHL playoffs.
St. Louis is now 9-0-1 in its last 10 games and the Blues are now riding a seven-game winning streak.
The Blues and the Wild remain tied for second in the central division. The teams are tied in points but Minnesota remains ahead in the standings with 46 wins to St. Louis’ 44.
“It's a very good team that we're going to probably see a lot of soon. And yeah it's gonna be an intense one,” team captain Ryan O’Reilly told reporters following a practice.
The Blues lead the season series against the Wild 2-0 after a 6-4 win January 1 and a 4-3 overtime win April 1.
Head coach Craig Berube and O’Reilly acknowledged the game against the Wild will be a big one but that the Blues know what to expect.
“Oh, definitely. They pressure you hard. They're physical, you know? Got some real high-end players over there. And they got good size,” Berube told reporters.
The Blues and Wild will meet for the final time during the regular season on Saturday night in St. Louis. Game time is set for 2 p.m. local time.
Vladimir Tarasenko put up five points against the Buffalo Sabres, a hat trick and two assists, by the final horn. The win was Tarasenko’s first five-point night of his career. He will be one to watch on in the Wild matinee.
“For me, he's been pretty good all year. I said to you before, (it) was a while back, he should have 30 goals by now,” Berube said of Tarasenko. “He's created tons of good opportunities to score goals. So, I mean, they're going in now.”
While the Blues are confident heading into the showdown, O’Reilly made it clear the bluenotes are taking things one step at a time.
“I think you, any year you want to clinch as soon as you possibly can. And, and that's an opportunity for us tomorrow,” O'Reilly said. “So definitely, I think we'll be thinking about that. But again, you know, we got to just stay in the details of the game and do things the right way and know that it's not gonna be easy.”
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