Blues Lineup:
Forwards: Robby Fabbri/Paul Stastny/Alexander Steen
Jaden Schwartz/Jori Lehtera/Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitirij Jaskin/Patrik Berglund/David Perron
Scottie Upshall/Ivan Barbashev/Ryan Reaves
Defensemen: Joel Edmundson/Alex Pietrangelo
Robert Bortuzzo/Kevin Shattenkirk
Colton Parayko/Jay Bouwmeester
Starting Goalie: Carter Hutton
Game Highlights:
The Blues called up Ivan Barbashev for tonight's tilt in Minnesota. This was after learning that Kyle Brodziak would be out 4-5 weeks. No one scored in the first period. The Blues played well and had their chances. Like many games this season, it just went downhill from there. (The Blues even managed to outshoot the Wild 10-8 in the first. Small victories right?)
Early in the second period, or "quarter" if you're the NBCSN host, the Wild find the back of the net. Parayko turns the puck over at center ice. Zach Parise takes the puck down the ice, slides it over to Erik Haula who fires it past Hutton. 1-0 Wild. No "Huttout" tonight.
A few moments later, the Blues tie the game at 1. Jori Lehtera blocks a shot. Jaden Schwartz tips the puck ahead to Tarasenko who doesn't miss on the breakaway. That's goal number 21 for Tarasenko and 3 more weeks of the scholarship for Lehtera.
The Wild scored their second of the night thanks to Nino Niederreiter and Tyler Graovac. Niederreiter comes in on Hutton. Hutton gets out of position and Graovac makes him pay. Niederreiter just centers the puck and gives Graovac a net that I could probably score in. 2-1 Wild.
With less than thirty seconds to go in the second, the Wild make it 3-1. With the Wild on the powerplay, Mikael Granlund gets a chance on net. Mikko Koivu finds the rebound and gives the Wild a two goal lead.
Niederreiter finds his way on to the scoresheet again. Only this time, he was the one to make it 4-1 Wild. He just walks into the zone and wrists one past Hutton. Neat.
As if the Blues weren't making us miserable enough, Mikael Granlund makes it 5-1 and ends Hutton's night.
Jake Allen comes in to the tire fire. At least Jake kept the puck out of the net. Another dismal effort from the Blues tonight. Which if you've been watching more than a week shouldn't surprise you. Play great against a few (or in this case one) teams and then completely face plant the next. The Blues are dangerously close to being out of the playoffs. Good news though, they're off now until Tuesday.
From The Twitter Machine:
Which hasn't been the Blues very often...
Ninth straight Blues game in which the team that scored first won.
— Tom Timmermann (@tomtimm) January 27, 2017
Hey, small victory! *distinct wanking motion*
Blues actually outshot the Wild in the third. Really. Not even #alternativefacts
— St Louis Game Time (@StLouisGameTime) January 27, 2017
Is that good?
Holy Minnesota pic.twitter.com/1VIVnCGa9E
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) January 27, 2017
Shoutout to Jeff Jones for the awesome Gametime coverage today. Might not have been the result we all wanted, but he got nachos.
Asked Hitch if he considered mixing in Barbashev in the third and he said "no" before I was done asking. Called it a "thick game." #stlblues
— St Louis Game Time (@StLouisGameTime) January 27, 2017
Player of the Game:
Livers of (drinking) Blues fans.