More overtime for the Blues and, for the third time this week, they won.
Ryan O'Reilly scored 2:27 into overtime as the Blues beat Minnesota, 4-3, on Saturday night in St. Paul, Minn. The Blues also won in overtime in Detroit on Sunday and at home on Friday night against Columbus. In both of those games, David Perron had the game-winner.
The Blues have won four in a row and six of their past seven. They now have two off days before playing again in Vancouver on Tuesday.
The overtime wasn't as short as Friday night, when Perron scored eight seconds in. This time, the Blues were on their second lap through the lines, having the puck almost the entire time, when O'Reilly skated the puck into the zone, cut back to his left to shake a defender and then from the slot fired it home.
It was the fourth goal of the season for O'Reilly. Robert Thomas and Vince Dunn got the assists on the goal though neither was on the ice when O'Reilly scored.
It was a bumpy ride for the Blues, who continue to have the breaks go their way. On the tying goal by Sammy Blais, the Wild, their fans and their coach, Bruce Boudreau, were up in arms that Blais had not been called for tripping right before he scored. Tyler Bozak got the puck in the corner and fed Blais, who jammed it into the net.
Boudreau was so incensed he got a bench minor, though the Blues couldn't score on that power play. Shortly after that one ended, Matt Dumba was called for tripping Blais, but the Blues couldn't score on that power play. They were 0 for 3 with a man advantage in the game.
The Blues saw their one-goal lead become a one-goal deficit after the second period.
Minnesota scored twice in the second to take a 3-2 lead, and a fourth goal for the Wild was overturned for goaltender interference after a challenge by the Blues. The Wild didn't agree with the ruling.
Kevin Fiala evened the game with a goal 1:01 into the period, shooting under a pile of players in the faceoff circle and catching goalie Jake Allen unprepared for the shot.
Minnesota went ahead 4:39 into the period. The Wild had a power play and had an even bigger edge when Alexander Steen's stick broke and, with the long change in the second period, couldn't get a new one. The Blues looked to have cleared the puck, but Minnesota's Brad Hunt swatted it down at the blueline. Two passes led to Mats Zuccarello being open for an easy tap in.
With 5:29 to go in the period, it looked like it had become a 4-2 lead on a shot by Mikko Koivu that caromed in off of Colton Parayko. But the Blues challenged for goaltender interference and the refs ruled that Zach Parise had caught Allen with an elbow to the head which affected his ability to make the save.
It was the second successful challenge this season for the Blues and they are now 2-2. The other time they had a successful challenge, on an offside call against Dallas, it ended up being the turning point in the game. Saturday, the Blues outshot Minnesota 7-1 after the reversal.
The Blues outshot Minnesota 12-6 in the period and almost had a goal late in the period only to have Hunt, briefly a Blue, knock a puck headed for the net away with his glove.
It was a night of breakthroughs for the Blues, as Mackenzie MacEachern and Carl Gunnarsson each got their first goals of the season as the Blues took a 2-1 lead after the first period.
MacEachern's goal was another product of the solid play by the Blues' fourth line. They produced a goal and about one-fourth of the Blues shot attempts on Friday night against Columbus. On his goal, which tied the game at 1-1, he knocked the puck out of the air as he stood next to the goal. The puck went into the net off of Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Gunnarsson got his goal with 5:35 to go in the period, having the puck in front of the net, skating out in front and slipping it through a crowd.
The Blues had fallen behind early on a goal by Marcus Foligno, who redirected in a shot from Jared Spurgeon past goalie Jake Allen, who got the start as the Blues played the second half of back-to-back games.
It was another less-than-great period for the Blues, who were outshot 10-6. The Wild also had a 21-16 edge on shot attempts.
