Blues win in Yeo's return to Minnesota
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The St. Louis Blues were mere ticks of the clock away from their second consecutive shutout, but still held off the Minnesota Wild for a 2-1 win on Tuesday.
Blues goalie Jake Allen had 32 saves and was 10.5 seconds away from his second shutout in as many games. The Blues (33-27-5) got goals from David Perron and Vladimir Tarasenko.
It was a memorable night for Blues coach Mike Yeo, who was fired by the Wild 13 months ago, and won his first game from the visitors' bench in Minnesota. The Blues are now 9-6-0 since Yeo took over on Feb. 1. He was the head coach in Minnesota for parts of five seasons, leading the Wild to three consecutive playoff appearances.
The Wild (42-16-6) got 18 saves from goalie Devan Dubnyk while Mikko Koivu scored his 18th in the dying seconds. It was a missed opportunity for Minnesota, which leads the idle Blackhawks by one point atop the Central Division and failed to add to their advantage. Koivu's goal came from a bouncing puck from center ice.
The Blues emerged from the opening period up 1-0 despite getting out-shot and having to kill the first penalty of the game. While Allen kept the Wild off the board in one end of the rink, Perron scored the opening goal, tipping a shot from Colton Parayko into the upper left corner of the net. It was the 13th goal of the season for Perron, but just the second since Jan. 15.
Midway through the second period, an apparent second score by the Blues was reviewed and ruled no-goal after replays showed center Patrik Berglund had played the puck with a high stick. Just seconds earlier, Allen had thwarted Wild center Eric Staal on a breakaway, and the 1-0 Blues lead held up through two periods.
Tarasenko's team-leading 29th goal came off the rebound of a Jaden Schwartz shot with less than nine minutes to play.
Koivu's goal was the first that Allen allowed in March.
NOTES: Immediately following the game, crews got to work converting the arena to host the renowned Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament, which will run from Wednesday to Saturday. More than 120,000 fans are expected for the 16 games played at Xcel Energy Center. ... With D Christian Folin out for three weeks due to an upper-body injury, the Wild recalled D Gustav Olofsson from their Iowa AHL team on Tuesday. He was in the lineup on Tuesday night due to D Matt Dumba missing the game due to illness. ... Blues prospect C Tage Thompson signed an entry-level contract with the team on Tuesday and will be assigned to their AHL team in Chicago. The team's first-round pick in 2016 will forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility at UConn. ... Minnesota now embarks on a five-game road trip, their longest of the season.