After a thrilling 3-2 overtime win, the St. Louis Blues traveled to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Wild Saturday. The Blues and Wild squared off in a Central Division matchup at the Xcel Energy Center.
The Blues’ starting lineup consisted of Brandon Saad, Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou, Nick Leddy, Colton Parayko, and Jordan Binnington.
The Blues got on the board first. Sammy Blais made it 1-0 with his ninth goal of the season at 5:19 into the first period.
The Blues’ early lead was short-lived. Ryan Hartman responded with an unassisted short-handed goal, his 15th of the season, to tie the game 1-1 at 11:17 of the first period. The Wild made it a 2-1 lead just 20 seconds later as Sam Steel scored a short-handed goal, his tenth goal of the season. The Wild led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play, despite St. Louis outshooting Minnesota 18-8.
The Wild dominated in the second period. Frederick Gaudreau made it a 3-1 lead with a power-play goal, his 17th goal of the season, at 14:27 of the second period. Jared Spurgeon extended the lead 4-1 with his 11th goal of the season with 35 seconds left in the second period. The Wild led 4-2 after 40 minutes of play, despite St. Louis leading in shots 28-20 over Minnesota.
The Blues came alive in the third period, but their efforts weren’t enough to down the Wild. Jake Neighbours cut the Wild’s lead in half with his sixth goal of the season just 11 seconds into the third period. Pavel Buchnevich’s 26th goal of the season made it a one-goal game at 7:51 of the third period.
The Blues pulled their goalie for an extra attacker late in the third period. Shortly after, Minnesota made it a 5-3 game. Jonas Brodin netted an empty-net goal, his third of the season, at 18:07 of the third period. The Wild won by a final of 5-3. Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 37 saves for the win, while Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 24 saves in a losing effort.
The Blues return to St. Louis to host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday, April 12 at 6:30 pm Central, then head to Dallas to wrap up the regular season against the Stars on Thursday, April 13 at 7:00 pm Central.
