Blues welcome Wild to town

The St. Louis Blues will shoot for a third consecutive victory when they host the Minnesota Wild in Sunday's battle at Scottrade Center.

The Blues have won four of five games to begin this lockout-shortened campaign and the latest triumph came Saturday evening in Texas. David Perron registered two goals, including the game-winner, and an assist as St. Louis edged the Dallas Stars, 4-3, at American Airlines Center.

"I thought Perron was head and shoulders the best player on the ice," said Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock.

Chris Stewart and Wade Redden also tallied for the Blues, while Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves. Redden scored his first goal in the NHL since March 18, 2010, when he was with the New York Rangers.

The Blues are 2-0 at home to begin the season after posting a 30-6-5 mark in the Gateway City in 2011-12.

Minnesota began the season with two straight wins but enters Sunday's contest on a two-game losing streak. The Wild suffered their first loss of the year Tuesday against Nashville and also dropped a 5-3 decision Friday night in Detroit. Todd Bertuzzi scored twice to lead the Red Wings to the home victory over the Wild.

Zach Parise posted a pair of goals for the Wild, giving him three goals and three assists in his first four games with Minnesota. Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter signed matching 13-year, $98 million contracts with the Wild in the offseason. Suter hasn't fared as well as Parise so far in his debut season in St. Paul, posting a minus-four rating and one assist in four games.

Josh Harding was tagged for five scores on 27 shots for Minnesota, which allowed Detroit to go 2-for-5 on the power play.

"You're looking at the goals, which one could you fault him on?" Wild coach Mike Yeo said of his netminder. "There are times the puck goes in the net and there's nothing you can do."

Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon missed Friday's game with a foot injury and is expected to miss Sunday's test as well.

Minnesota and the Blues split four meetings in 2011-12, but the Wild have taken six of nine overall in this series. St. Louis has claimed two straight and six of the previous eight meetings at Scottrade Center.