Minnesota Wild (53-22-7, second in the Central Division) vs. St. Louis Blues (49-22-11, third in the Central Division)
St. Louis; Sunday, 4:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Blues -117, Wild -105
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Wild lead series 2-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Wild visit the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the NHL Playoffs with a 2-1 lead in the series. The teams meet Friday for the sixth time this season. The Wild won 5-1 in the last matchup.
St. Louis has a 16-5-3 record in Central Division games and a 49-22-11 record overall. The Blues have a 42-7-4 record when scoring at least three goals.
Minnesota is 53-22-7 overall and 11-9-3 against the Central Division. The Wild are 44-9-5 in games they score three or more goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pavel Buchnevich has scored 30 goals with 45 assists for the Blues. Ryan O'Reilly has six goals and six assists over the last 10 games.
Kirill Kaprizov has 47 goals and 61 assists for the Wild. Joel Eriksson Ek has scored eight goals and added five assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blues: 5-4-1, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.7 assists, 3.4 penalties and 6.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.
Wild: 8-2-0, averaging four goals, 6.6 assists, 5.1 penalties and 13.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Blues: Nick Leddy: day to day (upper-body), Mackenzie MacEachern: out (upper-body), Torey Krug: day to day (lower body), Scott Perunovich: out (wrist).
Wild: None listed.
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