The Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues faced off in a divisional match-up on Tuesday evening, Nov. 19 in St. Louis. The Wild were looking to get back on the winning track after a loss to another divisional opponent, the Dallas Stars, on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Blues were also looking to redeem themselves after a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, Nov. 17. The goaltender match-up was Filip Gustavsson against Jordan Binnington.
Both teams had injured players return to the lineup, with the Blues’ Robert Thomas returning from a fractured ankle that caused him to miss the past four weeks. The Wild got Jonas Brodin back after missing the past two games, and Joel Eriksson Ek returned after missing almost two full games. It was a back-and-forth effort for both teams, but the Wild found a way to come out with a 4-2 victory to move them to 12-3-3, and the Blues fell to 8-11-1.
Game Recap
Things started out with the Blues controlling most of the play at the beginning of the first period, but it evened out as time went on. The Wild finally found their groove and took control with Ryan Hartman’s goal on Marco Rossi’s pass. Brock Faber started the whole play by racing back to catch a puck that got past him. He threw it back up to Rossi, who battled some Blues players and got it to Hartman, who took care of the rest.
That was the only goal of the first, and the Wild held onto the 1-0 lead. However, the second period tilted in the Blues’ favor as they answered back to tie it. The Blues’ goal was scored thanks to a strong breakout play that nearly every Blues player on the ice was able to touch. It started on their defensive end, and they made passes all the way up until Scott Perunovich sent it home with a snipe over Gustavsson’s glove. Jordan Kyrou and Zack Bolduc assisted him, and the second tied 1-1.
The third period saw the Wild take the momentum, and their scoring leader, Kirill Kaprizov, extended his scoring streak to three straight games and gave his team a 2-1 lead. It wouldn’t last long, however, as the Blues Thomas set up their power play where Jake Neighbours put the puck away on a pass by Pavel Buchnevich, and they tied the game up again, 2-2.
This time, the Wild responded just a few minutes later to retake the lead when Jonas Brodin deflected a shot off of a Blues player past Binnington. The Blues could not respond like they had throughout the game, and Kaprizov tallied his second goal on an empty net a short time later to secure the 4-2 lead and eventual win a few minutes later.
The Wild will continue on the road as they head north to take on the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday evening, Nov. 21. The Blues will remain at home to host the San Jose Sharks also on Thursday evening.
