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Wild shoot for another win vs. Blues

Nov 5, 2011 - 3:16 PM (Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild look to extend their season high winning streak to four games when they host the St. Louis Blues tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild made it three wins in a row with a 5-1 blasting of the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, as Matt Cullen scored two goals and added an assist to lead the charge. Pierre-Marc Bouchard had a goal and two assists, while Guillaume Latendresse and Marco Scandella netted the other goals for the Wild, who got 24 saves from Josh Harding.

"We did a good job of putting pucks at the net," Cullen said. "That's something we worked on a lot in practice. It was nice to see some results tonight. We created a lot of offense and made it tough on them."

Harding has won three straight in net and has been filling in for starter Niklas Backstrom. Harding missed all of last season due to injuries and is 4-2-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average against St. Louis. He is 13-5-2 all- time at home as a starter.

After tonight's game versus the Blues, Minnesota will hit the road for five games against the Flames, Sharks, Kings, Ducks and Blue Jackets.

St. Louis ended a two-game slide and won for the fourth time in six tries with Friday's 3-2 triumph over Vancouver.

David Backes scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, while T.J. Oshie had two goals and an assist. Brian Elliott made 28 saves to improve to 5-1-0 this year for the Blues.

"Just stay around [the net] and keep digging until the whistle blows. It's no secret that's where goals are scored," Backes said.

Backes has three goals and two assists in his last six games. Oshie owns six points over the past six contests. The Blues were without defenseman Kent Huskins (ankle) and he is questionable for this evening's tilt.

Elliott is 5-1-0 with a 1.72 GAA and has been sharing time with starter Jaroslav Halak. St. Louis will begin a five-game homestand next week versus Chicago, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Florida.

Minnesota took three of four matchups from St. Louis a year ago and has won five of the last seven encounters with the Blues. The Wild are 12-4-4 at home in this series, outscoring the Blues by a 62-41 margin.