ST. LOUIS _ It was an unconventional approach for the Wild this season, scoring first and then extending that lead.
But it worked.
Used to chasing the opposition, the team ditched rally mode for cruise control after settling into the driver's seat early en route to a 5-1 rout of the Blues Saturday at Enterprise Center _ the Wild's seventh win in their last eight games.
Nine different players contributed to the offense, rookie defenseman Nick Seeler scored his first career goal amid a three-point effort and winger Mikael Granlund pushed his point streak to 10 games in arguably the team's most complete showing to date.
Goalie Devan Dubnyk made just 15 saves on a season-low 16 shots against.
This was only the fourth time the Wild capitalized first and although most of their points have come from comebacks (6-2-1), playing with a cushion seems more conducive to long-term success.
Center Eric Staal set the tone with his 400th career goal 4 minutes, 42 seconds after puck drop when he deflected in a Seeler shot with his back to the net. Staal became the sixth active player and 96th all-time to reach the milestone; he also has six points in his past four games.
Only 45 seconds later, with the same crew on the ice, the Wild secured their first two-goal, first-period lead of the season when Seeler's one-timer banked off the post and behind Blues goalie Jake Allen for his first as an NHLer.
St. Louis cut its deficit in half on the power play later in the frame; center Ryan O'Reilly flung a shot by Dubnyk from the left faceoff circle at 11:32. That was the Blues' lone look with the man advantage, while the Wild went 0-for-4.
But the team reinstated its two-goal edge before the period ended on winger J.T. Brown's first goal as a member of the Wild _ a top-shelf finish off a breakaway put in motion after center Eric Fehr forced a neutral-zone turnover.
The Wild didn't let up in the second period, outshooting the Blues 20-4, and that was an accurate barometer on the action.
Players were tenacious on the forecheck and in their pursuit of pucks all over the ice, eagerness that helped them dictate much of the action.
As for the Blues, they looked as-advertised _ an out-of-sync bunch that's been hampered by a slow start to the season on the heels of an aggressive offseason makeover that brought in a slew of new faces.
And with 4:21 to go in the second period, the Wild pulled even further away from them.
After accepting a Granlund pass, defenseman Matt Dumba scored his fourth of the season after his shot trickled through Allen.
The sequence was reviewed to determine if Greenway, who earned the secondary assist on the play, was off-side, but the goal stood.
With the helper, Granlund now has 13 points during his 10-game point streak. His run is two games shy of tying his franchise-record 12-game streak from 2016-17.
At 9:15 of the third, the Wild added one more insurance tally _ this one from Fehr, who buried a loose puck in front as he was falling to the ice. Allen totaled 40 saves for the Blues.
The result brought the Wild to equilibrium on the road, as they sit at 3-3 after starting 2-1 on this stretch of a franchise-high seven straight away from home.
