Blues at Wild Game Five Preview

One thing we can probably expect tonight is to see Jordan Binnington back in net. His win in game four was an important one for the Blues, and allowing only two goals on 30 shots is certainly a better Binnington than the one that’s gone 0-9 in his previous playoff games.

That being said, an egg laid tonight in Minnesota and it’s a whole different ballgame in net for game six.

The fact that both of the goaltenders are on a short leash this series speaks less to the game they’re playing and more to the fact that Craig Berube needs to get his team focused on the task at hand. The Blues understood the assignment in game one, but mounting injuries through games two and three made game four feel like a mountain to climb. Luckily, the Blues did just that, earning a game six on Thursday and sending the series back to Minnesota tied.

If the Blues see Nick Leddy and/or Robert Bortuzzo in the lineup tonight it would be a welcome sight. Marco Scandella in the lineup isn’t even a sure thing as of right now - he left game four early with a re-aggravation to the injury that kept him out to begin with, once again seeing the Blues finish a game with just five defensemen. The offense in game four, especially Jordan Kyrou (two goals) and David Perron (2G, 1A) rose to the occasion. The team’s going to have to get even more output from a broader swath of players to make sure that game six in St. Louis is the last one in the series. A more balanced offense along with a full defense could be what it takes for the Blues to move to the second round.