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Wild look to bounce back from first loss

Oct 20, 2007 - 3:25 PM Minnesota (5-0-1) at St Louis (4-1-0) 8:30 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Great defense has propelled the Minnesota Wild to an excellent start.

The team looks to bounce back from their first loss of the season on Saturday when they visit the St. Louis Blues.

Though the Wild fell to the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3, in a shootout Tuesday, they remain the only team to pick up a point in each contest this season.

The Wild have yielded an NHL-best eight goals and surrendered just over 27 shots per game this campaign. Goaltender Niklas Backstrom is 4-0-1 with a 1.38 goals-against average and .945 save percentage.

Minnesota's offense has not found its groove yet as no player has scored more than two goals. Brian Rolston has seven points to lead an offense that will have to get on track if it hopes to score on Blues' netmender Manny Legace.

The 34-year-old Canadian has posted a 3-1-0 record with a 1.77 GAA. Of the last three goals he has surrendered, two were knocked in by his teammates.

One player the Wild will turn to against Legace is captain Pavol Demitra, who spent the majority of his 13-year career with the Blues. The Slovakian right wing, who has tallied two goals and three assists this campaign, played eight seasons with St. Louis.

The Blues will counter with their top line of Paul Kariya, Brad Boyes and Keith Tkachuk, which has tallied on the first shift in each of the last three games. The trio has combined for eight goals and 19 points in their first five contests.

The Blues have won four in a row and outscored their opponents 16-6 during that span.