The St. Louis Blues accomplished something most teams haven’t been able to do against the Minnesota Wild…beat them on their home ice. Jaden Schwartz scored a goal midway through the first period and Andy McDonald and Kevin Shattenkirk added goals in the second in a 4-1 Blues victory at Xcel Energy Center. The loss did not come without a price.
With under a minute to play in the first period, goalie Jaroslav Halak sprawled to make a stop on a shot from the point by Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon, but as the shot went wide Halak laid face-down on the ice for several moments. He was replaced in goal by Brian Elliott and did not return to the bench. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said after the game that Halak will likely miss some time by what’s being described as a lower body injury.
Entering Monday’s game, Minnesota was 13-3-1 at home this season, including a 9-1-1 mark in its last 11 games. Â Barrett Jackman added a late goal with under a minute to play for the final tally.
The Blues made a trade to bolster their blue line. The Calgary Flames traded defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to the Blues in exchange for St. Louis’ 2013 first-round pick, minor-league defenseman Mark Cundari and goaltender Reto Berra, an unsigned draft choice playing in Switzerland.
The 29 year old Bouwmeester has played 750 regular-season games without appearing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has played for the Florida Panthers and Calgary since entering the NHL in 2002. He has 71 goals and 229 assists for his career. This trade follows up the Blues acquisition of defenseman Jordan Leopold just two days ago.
The NHL Trade Deadline is 2 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
