Wild 3, Blues 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Center Charlie Coyle had a pair of goals as the Minnesota Wild picked up where they left off in the playoffs, frustrating the St. Louis Blues and winning 3-2 on Saturday.
Left winger Zach Parise added a power-play goal and goaltender Devan Dubnyk had 30 saves for the Wild, who eliminated the Blues from the playoffs in last spring's first round, and improved to 2-0-0 on Saturday.
The Wild broke a 1-1 tie in the second period with goals 21 seconds apart.
Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko and left winger Alexander Steen scored for the Blues, who fell to 1-1-0 while getting a 16-save effort from goaltender Jake Allen.
With his team trailing 3-1, Tarasenko scored a third-period power-play goal to get closer but could not draw even despite outshooting Minnesota 13-1 in the third period.
Allen robbed Coyle of an early scoring chance, using a sweeping glove save in the opening minute to thwart a breakaway. But Coyle broke through in the final seconds of the period, scoring his first goal of the season and giving the Wild a 1-0 lead. Crashing into the Blues' zone, Coyle split a pair of defenders and sailed across the top of the crease, flipping a rising shot that beat Allen's glove.
The Blues got the equalizer early in the second via Steen's first goal of the season. He caught a drop pass from Tarasenko and then unleashed a wrist shot from the right circle through a screen and beat Dubnyk on the stick side. St. Louis dominated much of the second period, testing Dubnyk repeatedly, but could not get a lead.
Instead it was Minnesota striking twice to reignite the opening-night crowd. Parise's goal came on a power play when he tried to feed right winger Jason Pominville, only to have the goal-mouth pass deflect off a Blues stick and high over Allen's right shoulder.
On the next shift, Wild defenseman Ryan Suter's long-range shot clanked off the left goal post and bounced to Wild left winger Thomas Vanek, whose momentum carried him below the goal line. Vanek flipped the puck at Allen, where it deflected off the goalie and Coyle prompted it over the line.
Scrapping with Blues center Paul Stastny, Coyle was in the crease when the puck went in the net, prompting Blues coach Ken Hitchcock to challenge the play. After a lengthy review, the officials determined there was no goalie interference and the goal stood, giving Minnesota a 3-1 lead.
St. Louis rookie center Robby Fabbri, who scored his first career goal in the Blues' season-opening win on Thursday, suffered an upper-body injury in the first period Saturday and did not return.
NOTES: Wild LW Jason Zucker skated in his 100th NHL game. Raised in Las Vegas, Zucker is the first Nevada product to play in the league. ... St. Louis RW Troy Brouwer played Saturday despite missing the team's Friday practice. Brouwer blocked a slap shot in the Blues' 3-1 opening night victory over Edmonton on Thursday late in the third period, but he stayed in the game and scored an empty-net goal. ... Minnesota recalled C Jordan Schroeder from Iowa of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions. Schroeder, who played 25 games for the Wild and scored three goals last season, was sent down at the end of training camp, but he made a hasty return after C Tyler Graovac suffered a lower-body injury in the Wild's 5-4 win at Colorado on Thursday. ... Blues C Kyle Brodziak was in the visitors' locker room at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday after spending the previous six seasons in Minnesota. He signed a one-year contract with St. Louis over the summer.