ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A banged-up Jordan Kyrou scored a hat trick and Brandon Saad tallied 2:05 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Jake Neighbours also scored for the Blues, who are 6-1 in their last seven games. Pavel Buchnevich had three assists and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.
Marco Rossi scored twice for the Wild. Marcus Johansson and Brock Faber also had goals for Minnesota, while Marc-Andre Fleury had 22 saves.
The win moved the Blues two points ahead of the Wild, who both trail Vegas in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The win was the Blues’ third straight over the Wild, who fell to 6-2-2 in their last 10 as they opened a six-game homestand that could decide their playoff fate.
“I know moving forward here over the last 11 games … the odds don’t dictate that we can win this, get ourselves in a playoff position,” Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. “But I wouldn’t bet (against) these guys. They just know how to win. There’s too much character in the dressing room.”
In the extra period, Rossi almost completed his hat trick on a breakaway but Binnington got an arm on his attempt. Then on the other end, Saad worked a give-and-go with Kasperi Kapanen at the Minnesota blue line and broke free with the puck, beating Fleury between his pads with a wrister in front.
“I saw Kaapy coming with speed on the right side and give him the puck and I felt like I had a step on the guy and joined him. He made a great play and found a way in,” Saad said. “Cutting through the middle, I’m thinking a couple things but ultimately decided five-hole and it worked out.”
The Blues trailed 3-2 starting the third period, but Kyrou tied it with his second of the game, a 40-foot wrist shot that beat a screened Fleury.
“I just didn’t see the release and when I picked it up, it was already past me,” Fleury said. “It’s tough though because it tied the game with a shot from so far out.”
Kyrou then gave the Blues the lead midway through the third, completing his fourth career hat trick with a clean wrister over Fleury’s shoulder.
It was the 11th goal in 19 career games against Minnesota for Kyrou, who was hit in the jaw with a puck in the first period and skated to the bench in obvious distress.
“The whole side of my face was numb. I couldn’t really turn my head. I can’t really turn my head now,” Kyrou said after teh game. “You just gotta battle through it, right?”
Faber tied it up 4-4, pouncing on a rebound with 5:09 to play to force overtime.
Rossi made it 2-1 Wild midway through the second period. Just over a minute later, the Wild had trouble clearing their zone, and Buchnevich found Kyrou at the left post for a redirect past Fleury to tie it 2-2.
Minnesota regained the lead with five minutes left in the second when Mats Zuccarello’s centering pass deflected off Rossi’s skate for his second of the game and 20th of the season.
Blues defenseman Nick Leddy played in his 1,000th career game on Saturday. Leddy went to high school in suburban Eden Prairie, Minn., and played for the University of Minnesota before the Wild selected him in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
“There’s not many guys that accomplish that,” said Saad, who played three seasons with Leddy in Chicago and has spent the last three years with him St. Louis. “It’s a huge accomplishment and I know for him to be home and to get a win, it’s a very special night for him.”
UP NEXT
Blues: Host Vegas on Monday.
Wild: Host San Jose on Thursday.
