Blues At Wild Recap: Blues Win 4-1 Behind Solid Defense

Brian Elliott hasn't won a game since January 31st. He wasn't the starter tonight; Jaroslav Halak was -- but at the end of the first period, Halak went down with a re-tweaked groin. I'm fairly sure that I heard people groan "no, not Elliott" all the way down here in Atlanta, but man, what a bounceback game with some great saves. Maybe getting a shutout down in Peoria in his last game down there helped; who knows? What I do know is that Ells saved 19 of 20 shots, and the goal that he allowed wasn't exactly a soft one.

The Blues' defense was much tighter than usual, especially on the penalty kill. St. Louis killed off five penalties, four of which came in the second period. They looked much more focused out there on the ice, much more centered, and much calmer.

Jordan Leopold was a +1 in his first game back and only wound up with 16:43 on the ice, which must've been a nice break from carrying the Sabres' defense. He and Kevin Shattenkirk seemed fairly comfortable with each other despite not playing together before, and only having one practice to feel each other out. Shatty seemed so comfortable he even potted a goal, his third of the season.

The Blues have never had an easy time against the Wild, and the Wild have been dominant at home as of late. Luckily the Blues seemed focused enough to overcome that adversity. The trick is, can they overcome it on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks? Here's hoping new addition Jay Bouwmeester's ready for that challenge.