Minnesota 6, St. Louis 3
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 21, 2015
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees:
Francis Charron, Steve Kozari
Linesmen:
Mike Cvik, Darren Gibbs
Attendance:
19204
By SportsDirect Inc.
Wild 6, Blues 3: Justin Fontaine collected a goal and two assists while defenseman Jonas Brodin added one of each as host Minnesota defeated St. Louis for the second time in eight days.
Thomas Vanek scored to extend his point streak to seven games and captain Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Chris Stewart also tallied for the Wild, who improved to 20-5-1 in their last 26 contests - including a 3-1 win over the Blues last Saturday. Defenseman Ryan Suter and Charlie Coyle each notched two assists while Devan Dubnyk finished with 26 saves in his 30th consecutive start for Minnesota, which remained one point ahead of Winnipeg for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
St. Louis' Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz each recorded a goal and an assist while Paul Stastny scored on the power play for his 500th career point. Brian Elliott yielded four goals on 16 shots before being relieved by Jake Allen (10 saves) for the Blues, who have dropped two in a row after winning five of their previous six and fell into a tie with Nashville for first place in the Central Division.
Stewart chipped the puck past St.Louis defenseman Carl Gunnarsson and converted a breakaway chance 7:47 into the first period to open the scoring and Vanek redirected Fontaine's shot from the point 4 1/2 minutes later to double the advantage. Parise cleaned up the rebound of Brodin's shot 3:39 into the second for his team-leading 28th goal before the latter's deflection 26 seconds later ended the afternoon for Elliott.
Tarasenko scored his team-leading 35th goal during a power play midway through the second and Schwartz tallied less than two minutes later to halve the deficit, but Fontaine converted from the slot at 16:11 to give Minnesota a 5-2 lead. Fontaine's tally capped his second career three-point performance and Koivu added insurance while on the man advantage at 10:48 of the third, when his centering feed caromed off St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo's stick and into the net.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Vanek has collected five goals and three assists during his point streak. ... Stewart has scored nine goals and set up seven others in 13 career games against his former team. The 27-year-old played parts of four seasons with St. Louis from 2011-14. ... Minnesota D Marco Scandella logged 19:21 of ice time in his return from a nine-game absence due to an oblique injury.
Top Game Performances
St. Louis |
|
Minnesota |
Jaden Schwartz 2 |
Points |
Justin Fontaine 3 |
Jaden Schwartz 1 |
Goals |
Justin Fontaine 1 |
Jaden Schwartz 1 |
Assists |
Justin Fontaine 2 |
Vladimir Tarasenko 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Mikko Koivu 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Jake Allen .833 |
Save Percentage |
Devan Dubnyk .897 |
Brian Elliott 12 |
Saves |
Devan Dubnyk 26 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
St. Louis
|
29 |
3 |
2-4 |
3-4 |
8 |
31 |
Minnesota
|
28 |
6 |
1-4 |
2-4 |
8 |
22 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Wild have a W/L % of .550 after a win and .562 after a loss.
-
St. Louis will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Blues have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .556 after a loss.