A poorly timed slashing penalty was all that it took to give the Wild the opening that they needed to tie the game. T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal six minutes into the third period simply for keeping his stick on the ice and redirecting a pass from Alex Steen into the net. This was enough for the remainder of the third period… or at least until Jason Arnott took a slashing penalty at 18:12. The improving penalty kill did not mix well with the Wild’s propensity to score late in games to force overtime – they’ve had six OT games this year so far – and Mikko Koivu roofed it over a sprawling Jaroslav Halak to tie.
Koivu and Matt Cullen had the shootout goals for the Wild, while Oshie had the Blues’. Kevin Shattenkirk nearly tied it as he had Josh Harding beat, but the puck rolled on him at the last second. Instead of going high over Harding’s left pad, it wound up going into the left pad, ending the game.
Halak was outstanding tonight, stopping 25 of 27 shots and making a multitude of saves in the 3rd period that allowed the Blues to at least get their point. St. Louis is now 4-0-2 under new coach Ken Hitchcock, getting ten out of a possible twelve points.
The Blues come home for an early game against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (note that puck drop is at 6:30) before heading off to Pittsburgh the next day to square off against the Penguins.