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Coming off a sloppy home loss two nights earlier, the team shut out the Blues and moved into first place.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: December 4, 2008 - 7:02 AM

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WILD 4, ST. LOUIS 0

Up next: 7 p.m. Friday vs. Vancouver • Xcel Energy Center • TV: Ch.45 (830-AM)

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Now, that's more like it.

Who needs crazy 6-5 games when you can have responsible, safe ones like Minnesota's 4-0 shutout Wednesday night over the St. Louis Blues at the Xcel Energy Center?

The victory allowed the Wild to hop over Vancouver for the top spot in the Northwest Division and showed things are back to normal after Monday's un-Wildlike performance.

That loss to Colorado was stained by arguably the worst defensive effort in Wild history. But after going back to the drawing board, the Wild paid attention to details and was virtually flawless in its own end Wednesday.

"It was a disaster," Wild defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron said of Monday's humiliation. "It's not something we're used to seeing. The more the game was going on, the more lost we were getting. Pucks were going through us from everywhere. We had to turn the page. It was obvious we were going to bounce back."

Eric Belanger scored his 100th career goal, Andrew Brunette scored his 200th, and Niklas Backstrom made 22 saves, including a highlight-reel, first-period save with the blade of his stick positioned vertically to rob Brandon Crombeen.

It was Backstrom's 12th career shutout one game after being lit up for six goals.

"As a goalie, you let in six goals in 40 minutes, it doesn't matter how they score," Backstrom said. "I felt embarrassed how I played, so you want to go out there and show that you're not that bad."

Marek Zidlicky scored a goal and an assist, Bergeron had two assists, and Mikko Koivu extended his point streak to a career-high six games with an assist. Antti Miettinen, who hadn't scored in 16 games, was also awarded a goal when he was tripped by Carlo Colaiacovo on an empty-net breakaway.

"We were a lot sharper," coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I was really surprised that we could come up with a game like [Monday]. I was shocked. To have probably five out of six defensemen not sharp? ... It was ugly."

The Wild, which outshot St. Louis 37-22, danced around St. Louis' end all night, but Chris Mason, who made 31 saves two weeks ago to beat Minnesota, held the score to 1-0 until the Wild's red-hot power play connected twice in the third.

The Wild's power play, which ranks No. 2 in the NHL, is 10-for-20 the past three games.

"In this league, power-play goals are a big deal, and it's been clicking of late," Brunette said.

After a scoreless first period, Brad Boyes showed how he's a Blues-worst minus-15. Boyes turned the puck over in the Wild end, and Belanger, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Owen Nolan exploded on a three-on-two.

As the trio crossed the St. Louis blue line, Bouchard fed Belanger while he dragged Alex Steen up ice. While being hooked, Belanger backhanded a goal over top Mason for his seventh goal.

"I was skating hard and Butch knew I had a step on [Steen]," Belanger said. "I felt him all the way, but I just said 'I'm going to get a shot and see what happens.'"

The Wild gave Backstrom goal support in the third. First, Brunette scored his ninth goal, then Zidlicky blasted his fourth.

All in all, it was a solid rebound from Monday.

"Totally whole different game," said Backstrom. "We learned a lesson on Monday that we're not going to get anything for free in this league. It's good we had a game [Wednesday] so we could show we were not that bad."

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