Goalie Gustavsson makes 27 saves, scores an empty-netter, Wild beat Blues 4-1
Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves and scored an empty-net goal as the Minnesota Wild snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
Ryan Hartman scored a power-play goal in the first period and Jakub Lauko scored a short-handed goal in the second for the Wild. Marco Rossi added a third-period goal. Kirill Kaprizov had two assists.
Mathieu Joseph, acquired in an offseason trade with Ottawa, scored his first goal as a Blue midway through the third period. Jordan Binnington made 23 saves for St. Louis, who had won their last four home openers.
Wild: It was the first time since a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders on Jan. 15, 2024, that Minnesota had both a power-play goal and a short-handed goal in the same game.
Blues: Have faced a multi-goal deficit in all four games this season.
With the Blues on a power play, Lauko got behind the Blues defense to give the Wild a 2-0 lead at 7:52 of the second period. It was the second short-handed goal allowed by St. Louis this season.
Moments later, Jordan Kyrou appeared to score on the same Blues power play, but the goal was waved off as the official had blown the play dead believing that Gustavsson had covered the puck. Ryan Suter also came close to scoring for the Blues, but the replay showed the puck crossed the line after the second-period buzzer.
Kaprizov recorded assists on the Hartman and Rossi goals. He now has 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 18 career games against the Blues.
The Wild continue their season-long seven game road trip at Columbus on Saturday while the Blues host the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
