Games against the Wild, save with the occasional exception, are usually snooze-inducing. It’s a reputation that they have in nearly every arena in the sport, regardless of if the team that they’re playing has lots of experience with them or not. Their reputation precedes them.
Niklas Backstrom helped continue the Wild’s trend of keeping the opposition’s chances to a bare minimum, allowing no goal on 32 shots. Blues’ goaltender Jaroslav Halak allowed one goal on 17 shots against a Wild team that really didn’t crash much, and who was made up of mostly AHLers and prospects.
Only after Warren Peters scored did the Blues start pressuring Backstrom, but if you allow him to get into a rhythm with occasional shots to show him what you’re planning on doing, he’s possibly one of the best goaltenders in the game. He showed that last night.
The next pre-season game is tonight (!) against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. Puck drop is at 8:00.