The two hottest teams in hockey met in St. Louis Monday, but only the Blues stayed scorching, shutting out the Wild 3-0.
Niklas Backtrom started in goal for Minnesota and gave up two first period lamp-lighters, the second of which was to Alexander Steen, his 18th of the year, good for second in the NHL.
Steen added another into an empty net in the third, and he now sits just one goal behind Alex Ovechkin for most in the league.
Wild winger Zach Parise took a shot off the foot in the first period while on defense, and returned in the second period before exiting the game again. He would not return in the third.
Minnesota center Mike Rupp, just promoted from Iowa, made his season debut Monday, playing just five minutes while putting two shots on goal. He was filling in for the injured Mikael Granlund, who missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
Matt Dumba was scratched in favor of Nate Prosser, who was a minus-1 on the night, while goalie Josh Harding once again missed the contest as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
The Wild look to bounce back Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center against Phoenix.
