The Wild followed up a sloppy game in Los Angeles with a strong road game in St. Louis, beating the Blues by a score of 3-1.
The Blues came into this game playing very well, and the Wild did a good job of dictating the rules of engagement.
Josh Harding got his second start of the year and played very well overall. The lone goal he allowed he probably would like back (a long shot by Minnesota-born Steve Wagner), but he more than made up for it over the course of the game.
The much-maligned "power" play finally paid off with one actual PPG, and another one just after a penalty had expired. The latter of those two was scored by Burnsie, who had a strong game to atone for his horrendous showing in LA.
The star of the game, however, was Blues goalie Manny Legace who was unconscious in the first period stopping all 17 shots he saw - including some Grade A scoring chances. Even though the Wild got three past him, this game would have been an absolute blow out were it not for his great play throughout.
BOTTOM LINE: Closest thing to a 60-minute effort yet.
STUD: Belanger. 1-1-2 for the night, but his goal came forty seconds after the Blues tied it up at the end of the second, kept them from getting any momentum, and proved to be the GWG.
DUD: No one really played poorly, so this is a dud by default. Boogaard was limited to 1:17 of ice time and, while he obviously has no control over how much he plays, he had zero impact on the game.
*** *** ***
SBP Update
I took the Canucks on Friday night, and lost.
Season record: 6-7
Winning %: 0.462
Last 10: 4-6
NiNY
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