Penalties derail Wild in loss to Blues

Considering the way the Wild had performed on the power play and while shorthanded lately, getting into a special-teams battle against the Blues might not have seemed like a problem.

But the Wild's prowess in those situations couldn't sustain it Saturday, as the team was tripped up 6-3 by the Blues at Scottrade Center amid three power-play goals by the Blues in eight opportunities.

"We're a good penalty-killing team," goalie Devan Dubnyk said. "We've shown it. That's not how we kill, and we'll get back to it on Monday."

The Wild had gone 28-for-30 on the penalty kill over its past 10 games – an efficiency of 93.3 percent. Overall, the unit entered the game third in the NHL (85.5 percent). But a steady succession of penalties was too much to overcome – even with a power play that continued to be potent.

That unit went 2-for-3 against the Blues, helping the Wild inch closer in the third period. But, ultimately, more penalty trouble snuffed out any chance at a comeback, as the Blues scored two late insurance gaols with the man advantage to cap off the 6-3 win.

"Just keep going," coach Bruce Boudreau said of the message when the Wild clawed within one to make it 4-3 with more than 11 minutes to go in the third. "Stay the course. You're going to get another chance or two. We thought at that point that they had shut it down a little bit and were looking for easy opportunities. That's what we thought, but then we take another dumb penalty and it's in the back of our net."

Here's what else to watch for after the Wild's loss to the Blues.

Still, Boudreau said the performance "wasn't as good as I would have liked it."

The goal was a shorthanded marker, as Coyle broke in alone and wired a shot by Blues goalie Jake Allen in the second period.

"I thought he played hard," Boudreau said. "He had opportunities. He was handling the puck. When he does that, he's very visible."