Minnesota 4, St. Louis 3
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, May 1, 2021
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees:
Steve Kozari, Wes McCauley
Linesmen:
Shandor Alphonso, Bevan Mills
Attendance:
3000
By Field Level Media
Kevin Fiala scored the game-winner in overtime Saturday night as the Minnesota Wild rallied past the visiting St. Louis Blues 4-3.
Mats Zuccarello, Nico Sturm and Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild (32-14-4, 68 points), who erased a 3-1 deficit in the third period.
Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 28 of 31 shots to earn the victory.
Jordan Kyrou, Sammy Blais and David Perron scored for the Blues (23-19-7, 53 points), whose four-game winning streak was snapped.
Jordan Binnington made 34 saves in defeat.
The Blues outshot the Wild 11-6 in the first period and took a 2-0 lead. Kyrou struck with three minutes left, rifling a shot inside the left post after Robert Thomas' centering pass deflected to him at the edge of the right circle.
Less than two minutes later, Blais doubled the Blues' lead. Tyler Bozak forced a Wild turnover in the right corner, and Blais walked out with the puck to beat Kahkonen one-on-one.
The Wild responded with a second-period push.
Zach Parise had a golden opportunity early after three Blues collided and gave the Wild a 2-on-0 rush. Binnington stopped Parise on his breakaway, then sealed off the right post to deny his follow shot.
Zuccarello cut the Blues' lead to 2-1 at 6:53 of the period. Kirill Kaprizov passed back to Zuccarello at the left dot for an uncovered slap shot.
But the Blues countered that with Perron's goal. Niko Mikkola fired a slap shot from the left point, and Perron converted the rebound with a diving effort.
Kahkonen kept the Wild within two goals by stretching for a glove save on Perron at the left post in the closing seconds of the period.
The Wild outshot the Blues 19-7 in the third period while rallying to tie the game 3-3.
Sturm cut the lead to 3-2 with 5:31 left by deflecting Brodin's floating shot past Binnington. Then with Kahkonen pulled and the Wild playing 6-on-5, Brodin scored from the blue line with one minute to play to force overtime.
Both teams had great scoring chances in the 3-on-3 play before Fiala fired the game-winner past Binnington.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| St. Louis |
|
Minnesota |
|
Sammy Blais 1 |
Points |
Jonas Brodin 2 |
|
Sammy Blais 1 |
Goals |
Jonas Brodin 1 |
|
Robert Bortuzzo 1 |
Assists |
Jonas Brodin 1 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Jordan Binnington .895 |
Save Percentage |
Kaapo Kahkonen .903 |
|
Jordan Binnington 34 |
Saves |
Kaapo Kahkonen 28 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| St. Louis
|
31 |
3 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
27 |
| Minnesota
|
38 |
4 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
32 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game at home against Vegas. The Wild have a W/L % of .645 after a win and .611 after a loss.
-
St. Louis will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Blues have a W/L % of .565 after a win and .360 after a loss.
For more information, contact us