Takeaways: Ryan Hartman scores twice as Wild beat Blues 5-0 in NHL season opener

ST. LOUIS — Filip Gustavsson’s new contract doesn’t kick in for another year, but the Wild goaltender immediately showed he was worth the investment.

Gustavsson was brilliant, denying 26 shots from the Blues to christen the Wild’s 5-0 season-opening victory Thursday night at Enterprise Center with the 12th shutout of his career.

In three season openers with the Wild, Gustavsson has two shutouts.

He also blanked the Panthers on Oct. 12, 2023 with 41 saves.

“But then I had bad second game against Toronto,” Gustavsson said. “So, I’m gonna have to get better [the] second game.”

Ryan Hartman scored twice, including once during a 1 minute, 36 second span in the first period that settled down the Wild after a few chaotic stretches in their own end.

Hartman collected a bouncing puck that hit his skate before rolling behind St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington at 15:54.

In the second, the Wild relied on quality over quantity: Joel Eriksson Ek buried a tap-in at 12:27 on the team’s first shot of the period to make up for a shaky start for the power play (1-for-3); Kaprizov and Boldy assisted on the goal. Then with 2:24 to go, Hartman whacked in a Yakov Trenin pass.

“I feel good personally, legs wise and speed wise,” Hartman said. “So, I just want to keep going.”

Rossi capped off the rout 7:26 into the third when he capitalized from the slot, Kaprizov and Boldy again assisting on the play for their third points of the night.

Binnington finished with 16 saves.

“That’s what makes them a good line right now,” Hynes said of Kaprizov, Rossi and Boldy. “They all work together. They have very good hockey sense, but there’s a competitive edge that they play with.”

Gustavsson, who signed a five-year, $34 million extension last week, was locked-in from the get-go and made four saves during two Blues power plays. If the puck wasn’t sticking to him like Velcro, he was steering rebounds out of harm’s way, and the precision was impressive — and exactly what the Wild needed since they were occasionally scrambly under St. Louis pressure.

“The chances they got, it was pretty controlled and from some good areas,” Gustavsson said.

Overall, the penalty kill went 2-for-2, with Marcus Foligno contributing after the veteran blocked a shot with his right hand and exited the ice at the end of the first period hunched over. But Foligno returned for the second and finished the game.

“Your goalie is your best penalty killer,” coach John Hynes said. “Beyond that, I thought our details were strong.”

Despite getting outshot 14-5 in the second period, the Wild outscored the Blues 2-0 en route to tying the franchise record for the largest margin of victory in a season opener; they also shut out the Avalanche 5-0 on Oct. 9, 2014.

With veterans Mats Zuccarello and Nico Sturm injured and Jonas Brodin still on the mend but nearing a return, the Wild are going to have to count on their youth, and they did: Hunter Haight made his NHL debut, after taking the traditional solo skate in warmups for rookies, and Zeev Buium appeared in his first career regular-season game after he first drew in last playoffs.

The growing pains are inevitable, but the veterans can help gloss over them, and that’s what happened vs. St. Louis.

Gustavsson was airtight, Hartman set a tone with his timely finishes, and the top line played up to its billing.

As long as those reinforcement stay in place, the Wild’s young players can keep learning on the fly.

“We played well when we got the lead,” Hynes said. “But I thought when we had the lead, we played smart. There wasn’t a lot of odd-man rushes. I thought our puck decisions were good. Our commitment to checking was strong, and then we found ways to be able to score and continue to build on the lead.”