Minnesota Wild Trounce St. Louis Blues, Chase Brian Elliott
3. 99. Final. 6. 98
Multi-point nights from Justin Fontaine, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Suter, and Jonas Brodin helped the Minnesota Wild to a quality win over the St. Louis Blues.
Good evening, Minnesota Wild fans. The last time our beloved Wild met the Blues, the Wild came away with a 3-1 victory they probably didn’t deserve. This afternoon, the Wild played a complete game and earned every last bit of its 6-3 victory. Justin Fontaine’s 3-point night was a big part of that, as was Devan Dubnyk’s 26 save performance. Don’t forget to take some time and read Dustin’s ode to Justin Fontaine.
First Period:
I really enjoy matinée games, don’t you? The atmosphere is just so great.
Devan Dubnyk stonewalled a point-blank Vladimir Tarasenko shot on the short side in the opening minutes. Tarasenko, arguably the best all-around forward in the league, would make up for it later, but I imagine he’s been having Dubnyk based nightmares from the last game.
Unsurprisingly, I think St. Louis controlled the rate of play in the opening few minutes. They have a ton of offensive weapons, so that shouldn’t come as a shocker.
Chris Stewart opened the scoring on a breakaway against one of his former teams. Stewart broke up a pass at the defensive blue line, snuck past Carl Gunnarson and was off to the races. As he approached the net, Stewart faked a slapshot to open up Brian Elliott before pushing a backhander through Allen’s 5-hole to make it 1-0 Wild at 07:47 of the first period.
A few minutes later, the Wild struck again thanks to a little puck luck. Justin Fontaine just barely kept a puck in the offensive zone, skated along the blue line, and put a shot on goal that bounced off of the stick of Zbynek Michalek and then the shoulder of Thomas Vanek before bouncing behind Elliott and in to the goal to make it 2-0 Wild at 12:14 of the first period. Vanek gets the goal for the deflection, but as you can see in the video below, all credit should go to Fontaine.
Ryan Suter went to the sin bin for hooking TJ Oshie at 14:24. The Wild managed to kill the penalty but Tarasenko managed to get some quality chances away.
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The Wild also grabbed a power play to end the first period, managing one shot on goal and a staggering 3 attempts by Mathew Dumba.
Shots after one period: St. Louis Blues 6, Minnesota Wild 11
Second Period:
The Wild added to its lead early in the second.
and his linemates came in to the offensive zone with Parise firing a shot on goal and collecting his own rebound. Parise carried the puck around the back of the net and fed
along the boards. Granlund just barely got a pass off to
. The promising young defenseman skated along the blue line to the slot and fired a wicked wrister that bounced off of Elliott’s shoulder and landed in the blue paint. Parise tapped home the loose puck to make it
3-0 Wild at 03:39 of the second period.
26 seconds later, Jonas Brodin struck again. This time, Brodin took on a pass from Fontaine and put a long, wobbling slap shot from the right point over the right shoulder of Elliott to make it 4-0 Wild at 04:05 of the second period.
With that, Elliot’s night was done and Jake Allen came on in relief. Two St. Louis goaltenders, 4 first names.
The Wild did well to put on a 4-0 lead; however, St. Louis is not a team to lie down and lose quietly.
Vanek’s hi-sticking penalty at the end of the 8th minute sent St. Louis back to the power play where they capitalized. Tarasenko finally got his revenge on the power play, collecting the rebound from a Jaden Schwartz shot and burying a wrister through Dubnyk’s 5-hole to make it 4-1 Wild at 10:02 of the second period.
Just over a minute later, Tarasenko cut through the 3rd line, put a shot off of Dubnyk’s leg pads and set up Schwartz for a backhander to make it 4-2 Wild at 11:41 of the second period. I’ll admit, this goal concerned me. Things can change so fast and St. Louis has so many weapons. A little confidence goes a long way.
The Wild went back to the power play around the 12th minute, which helped to slow down St. Louis’ relentless rushes.
Fontaine grabbed his 3rd and final point of the night late in the 3rd to help the Wild get its game back together. Suter fed
who walked in to the zone along the right-wing wall with Fontaine, who ended up with the puck in the offensive zone. Fontaine dangled around
r and fired a wrister that beat Allen thanks to a little deflection by Bouwmeester.
5-2 Wild at 16:11 of the second period.
This was just a great solo effort by Fontaine, one of the most underrated players on the team if not in the division.
Parise took a tripping penalty in the 18th minute, but the Wild killed it off and headed to the locker room with a 3-goal lead.
Shots after two periods: St. Louis Blues 19, Minnesota Wild 22
Third Period:
Not a ton of action going in to the 3rd period, though the Wild had a power play in the 5th minute that went nowhere.
In the 8th minute, Coyle drew a penalty to send the Wild to its 4th and final power play where Mikko Koivu put the game away. After Dumba entered the zone, Parise and Jason Pominville pulled the puck off the wall and Pominville set up in the low slot. With a chance for a shot, Pominville instead passed to Koivu right along the goal line. Koivu attempted a cross-crease pass that Alex Pietrangelo deflected in to the goal making it 6-2 Wild at 10:48 of the third period. Apparently all the Wild need for a power play goal is a deflection. I’ll take it!! By the way, this was the Wild’s only shot on goal in just about a minute of power play time.
Chris Stewart’s penalty in the 13th minute gave Paul Stasny St. Louis’s 2nd power play goal of the night making 6-3 Wild at 14:07 of the third period. This marks the first time since 12/29/14 that the Wild has allowed 2 power play goals in a game.
In true Central Division fashion, the Wild and blues exchanged shoves all the way until the final horn sounded. Game over, Wild win in regulation
Final shots on goal: St. Louis Blues 29, Minnesota Wild 28.
Trembley’s Take:
If the Wild make the playoffs, this will go down as its signature win on the season. Classically terrible against the Blues, the Wild played a fantastic team game to pull off the win.
Justin Fontaine was rightfully the first star of the game and he more than deserved to be. He’s full of hockey sense and probably deserves more than 12 minutes a night, but the second line Right Winger is playing pretty dang good hockey, too
I’m starting to think that Chris Stewart will go down as the steal of the trade deadline. He’s playing really great hockey lately. He tied Parise for team lead with 4 shots on goal.
Vladimir Tarasenko is the real deal, accounting for 8 shots on goal, a goal and an assist. Our editor points out he’s a future Wild Killer, but I think he’s more of a future Art Ross winner.
Talk to you Monday, when the Wild take on the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs. Thanks for reading!
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