Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who was expected to start Saturday, missed today's practice with the flu and may not be available to face Minnesota for the 1 p.m. face-off.
Brian Elliott will get the start against the Wild, and if Halak is unable to dress, the Blues will recall Ben Bishop from Peoria.
"(Halak) came in this morning and wasn't feeling good," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We'll just see how Jaro feels later on. We'll look at bringing Ben in if Jaro doesn't feel good tonight."
Elliott will be looking for his 20th win of the season Saturday. On Thursday, he improved to 19-5-2 with a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders, lowering his NHL-best goals-against average to 1.61.
"Our best player (Thursday) was our goalie," Hitchcock said. "Our goalie was terrific."
Bishop has not made an appearance in the NHL this season. After the Blues chose Elliott as the backup in training camp, Bishop went to Peoria, where he has become arguably the top goaltender in the American Hockey League. He is 23-13 with a 2.25 GAA, .929 save-percentage and a league-best six shutouts.
Bishop has been the subject of trade speculation because of his pending free-agent status. He will become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he does not play 30-plus minutes in 17 NHL the remainder of the season.
Recently, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said the club may not be as eager to trade Bishop as it might seem. The Rivermen are 27-21-3 for 57 points - three points out of fifth place in the Western Conference.
"Ben has put himself in a great position," Armstrong said. "He’s having an excellent year in Peoria. He’s going to be an unrestricted free agent if he doesn’t get in 17 games. He’s like anyone else. There’s a value on the players you put out there and if those values aren’t met, then we just keep the player.
"Winning in Peoria is just as important for development. Ben Bishop is a big part of Peoria. And you never know what’s going to happen here (i.e. injuries to either goaltender in St. Louis). So there’s nothing set in stone just because we signed one player. I don’t view Ben Bishop any different than I do the seven unrestricted guys up here."
With three assists in Thursday's 5-1 win over the New York Islanders, the Blues' Alex Pietrangelo climbed into ninth place in scoring among all NHL defensemen with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists).
"That's what I heard," said Pietrangelo, who has 21 points (5 goals, 16 assists) in his last 19 games. "I mean it's always good to see that ... it's a pretty good turnaround from where it was at the beginning of the season. I've just been trying to keep it simple, get the puck to the forwards and get the puck to the front of the net. Those guys doing a pretty good job of putting it in."
Top 10
1. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa, 53 pts (10 g, 43 a)
2. Alexander Edler, Vancouver, 39 pts (7g, 32 a)
3. Brian Campbell, Florida, 39 pts (3 g, 36 a)
4. Dennis Wideman, Washington, 38 pts (10 g, 28 a)
5. Shea Weber, Nashville, 37 pts (11 g, 26 a)
6. Ryan Suter, Nashville, 34 pts (7 g, 27 a)
7. Dion Phaneuf, Toronto, 33 pts (8 g, 25 a)
8. Dan Boyle, San Jose, 33 pts (5 g, 28 a)
9. Alex Pietrangelo, Blues, 32 pts (10 g, 22 a)
10. Keith Yandle, Phoenix, 32 pts (8 g, 24 a)
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CREDIT CHECK
In last night's game, Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk put a shot on net, and with teammate David Backes standing in front of the crease, the puck slipped past Islanders goalie Al Montoya.
"When (public-address announcer Tom Calhoun) said, 'Scoring his 18th goal of the season' .... I thought, 'Man, I've got 18 already? That really crept up on me," Shattenkirk joked today.
The goal was originally credited to Backes for his 18th of the season, but it was later awarded to Shattenkirk. It marked his seventh goal of the season, his first point in 13 games and his first goal in 16 games.
***
COLAIACOVO READY
Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo sat out Thursday's game with a wrist injury, which occured in Wednesday's practice. He was replaced by Kent Huskins, who returned to the lineup after missing four months with a fractured left ankle.
Colaiacovo said Friday that he's ready to play, but Hitchcock indicated after practice he may stick with Huskins. Huskins, who was paired with Pietrangelo, played 15:03 and had one assist.
"(Colaiacovo) is available for selection," Hitchcock said. "We'll decide how we do it tomorrow. It's kind of tomorrow's decision. I was happy with Huskins, so we'll just see how we feel tomorrow, whether we give (Colaiacovo) another day or two.
"Huskins is just smart and steady. Determined to defend. He's good that way. He's just a solid guy, a solid citizen back there. He's got a good stick. I think he calms things. He came into a pretty revved-up hockey game, so it's a pretty good sign that he survived."
