Wild finish 2022 strong with 5-2 victory at St. Louis

The Wild's long-suffering fortunes against the Blues finally turned.

After dropping five straight to their Central Division rival and seven in a row at St. Louis — not including the playoffs — the Wild threw the Blues a 5-2 curveball on Saturday at Enterprise Center to close out 2022 on an 8-2 run.

"That's a good team," coach Dean Evason told reporters in St. Louis. "They're good players. They're well-coached. I think everybody was motivated to see where we're at. We're excited with the outcome."

How the Wild won: Ryan Hartman was the difference maker, scoring twice to double his goal total on the season in his best showing since he returned recently from injury.

Both tallies came in the second period, with the latter at 5 minutes, 13 seconds standing up as the game-winner.

"It feels good," Hartman said. "I'm happy to contribute again."

Captain Jared Spurgeon tacked on an insurance marker 49 seconds into the third period before Jordan Greenway scored into an empty net with 4:04 left to put an exclamation point on only the Wild's fourth victory in their past 17 regular-season meetings with the Blues. St. Louis bounced the Wild from the playoffs last year in six games.

"I feel like we owe them from last playoffs," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. "It doesn't fix last spring but still nice to get a win here."

Spurgeon and Greenway also had an assist each, Greenway's first multipoint game of the season, and nine Wild players posted at least a point.

Fleury stopped 29 shots in consecutive starts for the first time since Dec. 7-9, and the penalty killers in front of him were also key. They teamed with Fleury to shut down all four St. Louis power plays; that improved the Wild penalty kill to 52-for-62 on the road.

"Our clears were good," Evason said. "I can think of maybe one that we didn't rip around the wall. But after that, our clears are good. When that happens, our penalty kill's been real good for us."

Turning point: Blues goalie Jordan Binnington had been brilliant in this matchup, entering the game 7-1-1 in his career vs. the Wild. But he hasn't been as sharp this season, and the Wild feasted on his puck-handling gaffes in the second period.

Tied at 1 after first-period goals from the Blues' Calle Rosen (5:41) and the Wild's Matt Dumba (13:02), Hartman roofed a rebound over Binnington 1:40 into the second after Marcus Foligno pried the puck away from Binnington outside of the crease.

St. Louis responded at 5:01 on a Robert Bortuzzo shot, but 12 seconds later Hartman intercepted Binnington's clearing attempt and banked the puck into the net off the goaltender as Binnington tried to regain positioning. Binnington ended up with 27 saves, and Hartman posted his eighth career multigoal game and first since he potted two April 16 also at St. Louis.

Aside from the offense, the forward stayed out of the penalty box after committing minors in his previous two games.

"Players like that, they know," Evason said of Hartman, who was skating in his sixth game since missing 21 with a shoulder injury. "They're accountable. They look in the mirror. He knows exactly what he has to do and can do and he can't do."

What it means: This effort showcased how effective the Wild can be when they have most of their regulars on the ice.

Foligno was back after a lower-body injury sidelined him for three games, and Mason Shaw returned after serving a two-game suspension; only Brandon Duhaime (upper-body injury) remains out.

Both additions reinstated the balance that's essential to the lineup, with Foligno's reunion with Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek especially noticeable. The "GREEF" line was a combined plus-4, helping the Wild close out December with their second-most wins ever for the month (11-4).

"Some teams can be one line, two lines, three lines. We can't," Evason said. "We're a four-line team."

The Star Tribune did not send the author of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.