National Hockey League
Minnesota 3, St. Louis 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 10, 2015
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Brad Meier, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Matt MacPherson
Attendance: 19096

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's a scenario that is all too familiar for the St. Louis Blues. They liked their effort vs. the Minnesota Wild but weren't satisfied with the result.

On Saturday, center Charlie Coyle scored a pair of goals as the Wild picked up where they left off in the playoffs, frustrating the Blues and winning 3-2.

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.

"He's had a good start," Parise said of Coyle, who had 11 goals last season. "He's played really fast through the neutral zone and we saw on his breakaways tonight ... he's playing really well and it's really helping us. Any time you can get all lines contributing, that's always tougher to defend."

The Wild broke a 1-1 tie in the second period with goals 21 seconds apart.

"There's a lot of lessons. There's a lot of areas of your game that just aren't there, so it's a good thing that we won some games," Wild coach Mike Yeo said after his team was dominated for the final 20 minutes. "The third period, it looked like a number of times that we forgot to take our smart pills there, making things hard on ourselves. But, all in all, it's good to be 2-0."

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.

"It's a small sample; but, if we get 30 shots on the road and hold the opposing team under 20, we're going to like the results a lot," Blues captain David Backes said. "Bitter taste in our mouth tonight, losing; but, if we play that game most nights, we're going to like our result."

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.

"Nice shifty little move," Allen said. "Not many guys usually throw it back against the grain like that. It was a skilled play on his part."

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, Minnesota struck 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 was pushed over the line by Coyle.

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.

"We played well and we played hard," Hitchcock said. "The third goal was the big difference, but there are a lot of good things we did today and we've just got to build on it."

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. Hitchcock said Fabbri took an elbow to the head and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to St. Louis.

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.
Top Game Performances
 
St. Louis   Minnesota
Alexander Steen 2 Points Charlie Coyle 2
Alexander Steen 1 Goals Charlie Coyle 2
Alexander Steen 1 Assists Ryan Suter 2
Vladimir Tarasenko 1 Power Play Goals Zach Parise 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jake Allen .842 Save Percentage Devan Dubnyk .938
Jake Allen 16 Saves Devan Dubnyk 30
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
St. Louis 32 2 1-3 2-3 10 25
Minnesota 19 3 1-3 2-3 10 28
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Arizona. The Wild have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • St. Louis will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Blues have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .000 after a loss.