Wild-Blues takeaways: Despite giving point to Minnesota, St. Louis played a masterful game, pull out 3-2 shootout win behind strong play from Schenn, Kyrou, Parayko leading way

Wild-Blues takeaways (3-16-24) (3:39)

“This time of year, stuff like that happens," said Blues captain Brayden Schenn, who scored a third-period goal and added a shootout goal to contribute to the cause. "The magnitude and pressure of games rises in the third period. Some mistakes are going to happen. We were able to, even when it was 2-2, they came at us still pretty hard, but we didn’t give them a whole lot. Come out with one point better than them tonight, we’ll definitely take that."

Blues interim coach Drew Bannister had no qualms with tonight's effort and execution either.

"Yeah, I thought we played well for 60 minutes," Bannister said. "... I thought we started well. I thought we were very direct. I thought we created a lot of good looks at the net, some good offensive chances. The power play was able to score a goal for us early in the second there. Disappointed that we gave them a point, but when they made it 2-2, I thought we stuck with our game and we found a way to win in a shootout."

Let's dive into the takeaways from tonight's game:

* First Period -- The Blues had their legs and mojo early. Bolduc had an early chance when he burst in on a 2-on-1 with Pavel Buchnevich 1:23 in but wired his shot off the angle off the side netting. He had Marc-Andre Fleury beat but just missed giving the Blues a 1-0 lead.

Then Torey Krug darted down the slot and took a pass but Fleury got a piece of the shot at 3:16. Two terrific chances to make it 2-0 early.

 "Yeah I think we were getting in good on our forecheck," said Blues forward Jordan Kyrou, who scored a power-play goal and then the shootout winner. "We were supporting each other there. We were moving pretty well in the o-zone. They play man-on-man, so we were able to spin off guys and attack the net more."

The Wild did get a great chance from the slot, but Kirill Kaprizov, who has been on quite the heater lately, fired his wrister high and wide at 3:51.

With the game having a playoff feel, there would be some chippy and feisty play. Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Hartman each were given roughing minors at 12:05.

Fleury, who was the busier of the two goalies with Jordan Binnington, lunged and robbed Kevin Hayes with his right pad at 17:17 on a tip-in play after a saucer feed from Brandon Saad.

The Blues had the better of the play in the opening 20 minutes and outshot Minnesota 11-6 but went to the second period scoreless.

* Second Period -- The Wild were causing some havoc for the first time early, and the Blues were not connecting cleanly with their passes in the opening minutes.

Then as they started to settle in, Kyrou and Robert Thomas each had a golden chance to shoot a puck off a Wild turnover. Kyrou passed up shooting but got a puck to Thomas, who tried to return it. Neither got a shot off with the sellout crowd of 18,096 screaming to shoot the puck.

The first power play went to the Blues when Hartman tripped Buchnevich near the St. Louis offensive zone blue line at 4:49, and Kyrou finally cashed in with his 21st of the season when he finished off a nifty Jake Neighbours behind-the-back, through the legs pass through the crease for Kyrou to slam home at 5:49 and a 1-0 Blues lead.

"Yeah that was a helluva pass, pre-scouted that a little bit, get underneath their 'D' there," Kyrou said. "That was a great pass, just tapped it in.

"It feels nice for sure. Definitely feel like my game's been struggling a bit lately to score. It feels good."

The Wild played a discombobulated period, the Blues spent a lot of the period in the Minnesota zone but couldn't solve Fleury.

Zach Bogosian backhanded a puck into the stands for delay of game and the Blues had a second power play at 15:08 but couldn't extend the lead.

St. Louis led 1-0 and was outshooting Minnesota 23-14 through two, including 12-8 in the period.

* Third Period -- As smoothly as the Blues were playing, a second goal seemed destined to be enough.

They got it when Schenn scored his first goal in 19 games (Jan. 28 against Los Angeles) just 27 seconds in for a 2-0 lead.

It came off a d-zone breakout from Nick Leddy to Kyrou, who chipped the puck by a pinching Wild defenseman Jake Middleton for an odd-man rush. With Schenn moving up the left side, defenseman Colton Parayko joined the rush, and with Wild defenseman Brock Faber indecisive whether to take the shooter or Parayko, Schenn had the space to skate into the left circle and beat Fleury with a beautiful wrist shot top right corner.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. It opens up the shot lane more," Schenn said of Parayko. "I looked at him. I just felt try and let one fly. I was able to beat Fleury.

"It feels good to contribute on the scoresheet. I’ve felt like you just have to keep on grinding and working when it’s not going your way sometimes. I was able to get a couple looks tonight and having fun playing with 'Tommer' and Kyrou."

The two-goal lead didn't last long however.

The Blues seemed to be in good shape when Bolduc fell with the puck at his stick in the defensive zone, it was turned over for them unfortunately, and Kaprizov found Marco Rossi alone in front of Jordan Binnington and he was able to put the shot through the Blues goalie at 1:10 to make it 2-1.

"A little bit of an unlucky bounce on the first goal, where one of our players [Bolduc] falls," Bannister said. "If he doesn't lose his edge, the puck is probably out of our zone and that play doesn't happen."

Enter Nathan Walker into the fray as he and Wild fellow fourth-liner Mason Shaw got into a heated skirmish at 2:37.

Binnington came up with his most important save when he stopped Matt Boldy ona breakaway at 9:07.

The emotions would continue when Saad and Bogosian each were put in the box; Saad for unsportsmanlike conduct and Bogosian for roughing at 13:02 when Bogosian should have been called for spearing.

The Blues appeared to be in good shape until the Wild found a late equalizer from Kaprizov at 16:01 to tie it 2-2.

Thomas lost a face-off to Rossi, the puck wound up at the point, Bogosian found Mats Zuccarello along the left wall and he found Kaprizov alone at the right post, the puck caroming off his skate and past Binnington to quiet the crowd.

"The one mistake we made in the third period, and it ended up in the back of our net, just on coverage," Bannister said.

Each team pressed for the winner, but it would go to overtime tied 2-2 and the Blues holding a 36-22 shots edge.

* Overtime -- The Blues won the puck on the opening face-off but could never quite seem to get a high-end scoring chance until Parayko powered to the net along the left side, but Fleury answered with the nifty poke-check or else the game was over.

Thomas was at the end of his shift and tried to put a puck up the middle but it got picked off and Zuccarello had a good look from the edge of the right circle at 1:15.

Not only Thomas, but Buchnevich and Kyrou each gave the puck away, luckily for them to no harm, and ultimately in the OT, Saad had the best chance for either team, but Fleury sprawled to stop the one-timer at 3:07. 

The game would go to a shootout tied 2-2 with the Blues outshooting the Wild 37-24 for the game.

* Shootout -- Thomas would go first for the Blues and would roll his backhand wide, but Zuccarello would also miss the net wide right.

Neighbours, who came in 2-for-2 in his shootout career, would also miss coming in from the left but shooting high and wide. But Binnington kept it scoreless when he gloved Kaprizov's ticklish little wrister.

Schenn stepped up and scored on Fleury when he went to the forehand and powered a wrister home from in right. But Boldy, who had to score, kept it alive for the Wild when he came in off the right and quickly shot through Binnington's pads.

It was on to sudden death, and Kyrou would score for just the third time in 15 attempts going backhand to beat Fleury, and it was up to Frederick Gaudreau to extend the game for the Wild but he never got a clean shot off taking himself too far wide to the right and the Blues won the game.

"I mean, yeah. You always want to get (the full) two (points), especially against a division opponent and we’re both obviously tight in the race," Parayko said. "I think from our locker room standpoint, we’re just focusing on ourselves and trying to put two points in the bank every night as much as possible and give ourselves a chance to win. I think that’s what we did tonight. Obviously, we don’t want to give up the point, but we did gain a point, so we’ll take it."