#mnwild defeats the #stlblues, 3-1! @T_Vanek26, @thelnino22 and Brodziak score the goals for Minnesota! #MINvsSTL pic.twitter.com/Vf1B48MFrI
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 15, 2015
Nino Niederreiter and Kyle Brodziak scored 17 seconds apart late in the third period to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 victory over the Blues in St. Louis Saturday night.
Niederreiter scored with 6:33 remaining, and Brodziak lifted a backhand goal past Blues goalie Brian Elliott 17 seconds later to break a 1-1 tie, NHL.com reports.
It was the Wild’s first win in St. Louis since Oct. 20, 2007.
Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk played a monster game, making 41 saves in his 27th straight start. It was his first win over the Blues in eight games.
St. Louis was in control for most of the first two periods, outshooting Minnesota 32-10, including 20-5 in the second period, according to FOX Sports North.
But Dubnyk allowed just one goal, on a deflection by David Backes in the second. His 41 saves were the most he’s made since joining the Wild in January. He’s 20-5-1 and has a .939 save percentage.
@ChadGraff pic.twitter.com/3JcONpv62q
— Nate Morton (@mortongowild) March 15, 2015
Brian Elliott made 16 saves for the Blues (43-20-5) and lost to the Wild for the first time in his career.
There were two scores that were reviewed and ultimately overturned. In the second, Zach Parise redirected a Jared Spurgeon shot past Elliot, but the goal was disallowed after the review showed the puck went off Parise’s skate.
The more dramatic review took place at 1:41 in the first period, when Patrik Berglund sent the puck into the net for a 1-0 St. Louis lead. The goal was reviewed at first for a high-stick, according to the Star Tribune, and the NHL’s Situation Room in Toronto ruled it was a good goal.
But Dubnyk talked to the officials complaining that the goal wasn’t legitimate. Just before the ensuing face-off, league officials in Toronto called back and said the goal wasn’t good after all because the puck didn’t go into the net; it dropped into the white padding on the bottom instead.
The Star Tribune notes that if the puck had dropped, it would have been too late to reverse the score.
Minnesota (38-24-7) will remain the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Ninth-place Winnipeg won in Tampa, so the Wild stayed three points up on the Jets.
