Brodin’s late blast seals Wild win in St. Louis

The Minnesota Wild continued their solid play away from home on Tuesday, thwarting a pair of Blues comeback efforts.

By Jess Myers, Pioneer Press – November 20, 2024

ST. LOUIS — We’re still a week away from most folks brining and stuffing their Thanksgiving turkeys, and still the Minnesota Wild are offering a preview of hockey that’s more typical of Easter season. Namely, they find themselves caught up in those tight checking, offense at a premium, fight for every inch of ice games so common in the playoffs.

On the heels of a one-goal loss to a division rival at home last weekend, the Wild turned in a tight victory Tuesday night in St. Louis, as Jonas Brodin’s slap shot late in the third period was the difference-maker in a 4-2 win.

Playing in his first game back after missing a pair of home contests last week with an upper body injury, Brodin let fly from the near boards, and the puck was behind Blues goalie Jordan Binnington before he could react.

“We like to play those games and to play in the Central, too,” Brodin said. “There’s going to be a lot of those games. Tough games.”

Filip Gustavsson had 22 saves, Ryan Hartman scored his fourth goal of the season early, and Kirill Kaprizov scored his team-leading 12th and 13th goals in the third period, finishing it off with an empty-net goal with 1:23 to play, as the Wild improved to 8-1-2 away from home and won in St. Louis for the second time this season.

“It’s such an extremely competitive division,” said Wild coach John Hynes, after a trio of tight battles with Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis in the last nine days. “Everybody plays hard. All the teams are good, and it’s always a battle in these games. Just happy with the fact we’re finding ways to win.”

Gustavsson was hard at work early, facing a quartet of Blues shots in the opening 90 seconds. The Wild needed nearly five minutes to get their first shot but found their legs quickly, with Freddie Gaudreau and Jake Middleton providing high-quality scoring chances.

“They got hot there at the beginning,” Gustavsson said. “We weathered the storm there, and it was fine. It’s nice to get going though.”

The visitors broke through when Marco Rossi intercepted the puck at the red line and fed Hartman, who split a pair of St. Louis defenders and got off a shot that Binnington got a piece of, only to see it slip over the goal line.

Rossi, who is among the team’s assist leaders, has at least a point in 13 of Minnesota’s 18 games this season. Playing alongside Marcus Johansson and Hartman, the trio provided some important offensive depth on Tuesday.

“It was pretty good,” Rossi said. “Since the first shift of the game we were really good. We had a strong forecheck and we created a lot of chances, so that was good.”

After killing a penalty, the Wild went on the attack early in the second, with a Brock Faber shot clanking the post, and a scramble in front of Binnington that ended with the puck over the line, but just a half second after the whistle.

Their attempts to extend the lead fell short when Hibbing native Scott Perunovich perfectly placed a wrist shot into the corner behind Gustavsson’s left shoulder to even the score. It was the second career goal – and the second this season – for Perunovich, who was named college hockey’s top player in 2020 after his junior season at Minnesota Duluth.

When Justin Faulk was whistled for a high stick to the head of Kaprizov in the third, Minnesota got an opening. The Wild’s power play continues to struggle, but less than 20 seconds after St. Louis returned to full strength, Jake Middleton kept the puck in the offensive zone, then fired toward the net where Kaprizov’s artful deflection gave the lead back to Minnesota.

But the Blues pulled level once again, with Jake Neighbours scoring on a tip with St. Louis on a late power play. It snapped a streak of 17 consecutive penalties killed by the Wild. Binnington had 24 saves for the Blues.

Gustavsson had scored an empty net goal in St. Louis last month, but he joked that with an anticipated salary bump coming next summer, it was important for Kaprizov to get his fifth goal into an unattended cage.

“Of course, Kirill needs to get his points. He’s got a contract here,” Gustavsson said, with a smile. “He’s such a smart player, and he reads the game very well. And that’s why he should be out there when the net is empty, because he can make those plays.”

The Wild’s three-game road trip continues on Thursday night in Edmonton.