Throwdown Lowdown – Wild @ Blues, 02-18-12

This is one of the top Wild enforcers due to injuries and demotions. Yes, Darroll friggin’ Powe. Image via Dinur/Flickr

That was a nice little bounce-back game, I’d say. You could say the St. Louis Blues were playing a weakened New York Islanders team, and I would probably agree with that (top goaltender Evgeni Nabokov could not play due to illness), but a 5-1 win over a team in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference is nothing to sneeze at, no matter what the circumstances, especially for a team like The Note that has had trouble scoring goals as of late. All that said, there were no fights in the contest, which was probably to be expected as the Isles don’t fight much and Ryan Reaves was told to take a spot in the press box buffet line anyway. I swear I’ll get over it. The Blues are now tied for 11th place in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres with 27 fighting majors. There was a correction in BJ Crombeen’s fight – it was NOT a draw, and in fact he was judged (somehow?) to have won that fight. Taking away the draw and adding a win, the team’s fight record now stands 13-3-11.

Afternoon games? Yes, there are two of them this weekend, and we start with possible future division/conference mate, the Minnesota Wild. When the Blues played the Wild on November 5th, Minnesota was in the thick of the playoff race. When the two teams played on November 19th, the Wild were second in the Western Conference and first in the Northwest Division. When the two teams squared off on January 14th, the Wild were sliding back in the playoff hunt but still held onto eighth place in the conference. Today, the Wild are in full free-fall mode, and while they’re still 10 points within a playoff spot, they’re thought to be possible trade deadline sellers. Hot starts can be a bitch, especially when you don’t follow up on them. Anyway, the Wild have fought 29 times this season, currently ahead of the Blues and good for a tie for eighth place in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils in the category. Their fight record, however, is relatively average at 10-9-10.

14 of the Wild’s 29 fights are shared amongst two players, neither of whom will be playing in this game. They are Brad Staubitz (6’1”, 215lbs, 4-3-2 including a Loss to Reaves, currently with Houston in the AHL) with nine and Clayton Stoner (6’3”, 225lbs, 2-2-1 including a Loss to Chris Stewart, on IR with a “Lower Body Injury”) with five. Following them is youngster Matt Kassian (6’4”, 232lbs, 2-0-2) with four fights and Justin Falk (6’5”, 215lbs, 2-0-1 with the Draw coming against David Backes) and Darroll Powe (5’11”, 212lbs, 0-0-3 with a Draw against Scott Nichol) with three fights apiece. Solo fighters include Carson McMillan (6’1”, 200lbs, Draw, on IR with a “Lower Body Injury”), Nick Johnson (6’1”, 183lbs, Loss), Warren Peters (6’0”, 195lbs, Loss), Nate Prosser (6’2”, 195lbs, Loss) and Cal Clutterbuck (5’11”, 213lbs, Loss).

Call it a hunch, but I don’t really expect a fight in this contest, especially with so many rematch possibilities falling by the wayside due to the injuries and demotions and such. But if there’s something to happen, expect it to be Crombeen going with Kassian. It would be an interesting tilt and a grand departure from the marathon Derek Dorsett tried to goad Crombeen into on Tuesday.

A second win heading into a nationally-televised game in Chicago would be quite nice, actually.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights