The St. Louis Blues haven’t played the Minnesota Wild since Nov. 29, which is kind of crazy. Just a little has changed since then.

From the Blues' perspective, they’re trying to survive without Kevin Shattenkirk, an injury that’s been lost in the leaguewide perspective. Before he went down, he was having one of the best seasons among defensemen in the league.

The Wild? They’ve transformed completely.

They’ve evolved from a team that looked like it might miss the playoffs to threatening Chicago for the third-place spot in the Central Division. On Jan. 14, Minnesota was 17 points behind the Blackhawks, and now that gap is almost completely wiped out. Incredible.

On Monday, during a chat with Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, the conversation shifted to the Wild and goalie Devan Dubnyk, who the Blues will finally see this weekend in the first of three meetings down the stretch between these two playoff contenders.

Hitchcock hasn’t seen Dubnyk live with the Wild, but he hasn’t had to. The video doesn’t lie.

“I’ve seen him on TV. There’s no holes,” Hitchcock said. “It looks like there’s nothing to shoot at every night. I watched Devan play a lot when he was with Kamloops [in the WHL]. He was a very good junior goalie. He’s at that age when you look at a lot of goalies, this is when they start to mature. He looks like he’s got that now.”

The fit has been unquestionably perfect. Dubnyk has saved the Wild’s season. Now the question becomes: Should they commit to him long term