The Wild rallied from an early hole.
Jonas Brodin injured in Wild's win over Blues
Defenseman Jonas Brodin disappeared in the second period after suffering an upper-body injury.
February 7, 2018 at 5:04AM
Its offense was fueled by contributions throughout the lineup, and the defense – led by goalie Devan Dubnyk – was steady.
What makes that list of accomplishments in the Wild's 6-2 win over the Blues Tuesday at Scottrade Center even more impressive is that the team wasn't at full strength for the entire game.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin disappeared in the second period after suffering an upper-body injury, and fellow blue liner Nate Prosser left the action late in the third period to put the Wild at 16 skaters the rest of the way.
Coach Bruce Boudreau expects to learn the severity of Brodin's injury Wednesday, while Prosser is fine after getting hit with a puck in the back of the leg.
The team also will know Wednesday if it needs to make any call-ups to help fill out the back end ahead of a Thursday meeting with the Coyotes at home.
Brodin exited the game with 11 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the second. In his final shift, he was pinned along the boards by Blues winger Vladimir Sobotka before eventually skating off.
As for Prosser, he was hit by a shot before the Blues scored their second goal at 12:36 of the third period and had to be helped off the ice.
"The guys are playing well right now, so losing any of them is tough," goalie Devan Dubnyk said. "To see Brods go down, and it's tough to look after a goal and see Pross laying there. So not sure what the verdict is, but hopefully they're ok.
Here's what else to watch for after the Wild's win over the Blues.
- Captain Mikko Koivu snapped a 11-game goal drought with the game-winner – a power play goal in which he charged the net before scoring off a backhander.
"He was starting to get frustrated," Boudreau said. "If he doesn't score, he still plays very solid and he plays 20 minutes because you rely on him so much. But when he is scoring, it sure is an added bonus."
- Winger Jason Zucker has already tied his career-high in goals from last season with No.22 coming in the second period Tuesday.
"It's good, but I'm not satisfied with it," he said. "I want to be better, and I want to keep getting better. Mikko and [Mikael Granlund] are playing great right now, so it's nice to be clicking as a line. But it's even better to get a win against a team like this – a Central Division rival. As long as we continue playing like this, we'll be fine."
- With a shorthanded defense, Gustav Olofsson logged a solid 19:46 – his second-highest ice time of the season.
"Guys are going to need to step up in [Brodin's] place," Olofsson said. "We have the capacity to do that."
Chicago arrives after a loss that ended a three-game win streak.
