Wild 5, Blues 4 (SO)
John Madden scored the decisive goal in the ninth round of the shootout, lifting the visiting Minnesota Wild to a 5-4 comeback victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday.
Cal Clutterbuck had two goals, Andrew Brunette and All-Star Martin Havlat each recorded a tally and an assist and Jose Theodore made 31 saves for the Wild, who have won eight of their last 10.
Each team scored three times over the first four rounds of the shootout but neither was able to tally over the next four. Madden broke through for Minnesota in the ninth, beating Jaroslav Halak with a backhander, and Theodore denied Vladimir Sobotka to clinch the win.
Patrik Berglund opened the scoring at 1:50 of the first period and Brunette answered 59 seconds later to knot the contest. Andy McDonald tallied with 4:26 remaining to give St. Louis a 2-1 edge.
Clutterbuck and All-Star David Backes took center stage after that, exchanging scores over the next two periods. Clutterbuck, who had just one goal in his previous 12 games, tallied at 1:30 of the second to forge a tie.
Backes put the Blues back in front 19 seconds into the third, but Clutterbuck struck again just 22 seconds later. Backes netted his 20th of the season at 6:20, giving St. Louis its fourth lead of the night, before Havlat scored with 58 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Halak stopped 23 shots for the Blues, who have lost six of eight at home and 12 of 16 overall.