Staal
scores hat trick as Wild romp over Blues
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[February 28, 2018]
Eric Staal collected three goals
and five points and Jason Zucker potted one goal and had four
assists as the Minnesota Wild recorded their fifth-straight win with
an 8-3 thumping of the struggling St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night
in St. Paul, Minn.
Mikael Granlund, the third member of Minnesota's top line, scored
twice in a four-point game at Xcel Energy Center as the Wild tied a
franchise record for most goals in a game. Goalie Devan Dubnyk made
22 saves in the victory.
It didn't take long to see the Wild were destined to continue their
hot streak. Zucker deflected Ryan Suter's point shot past Jake Allen
to open the scoring on a power play just 2:57 into the game. Then
Granlund doubled the lead at 7:13 when Staal's shot ricocheted off
him and into the cage.
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After Vladimir Tarasenko gave the Blues a jolt of life at 9:59,
which snapped his team's goal-scoring drought at 150 minutes and 23
seconds, Granlund potted his second goal of the game at 11:17 of the
high-scoring opening frame. That spelled the end of Allen's night,
the victim of three goals on eight shots.
St. Louis received a bit of life when Alex Pietrangelo scored 15
seconds into the second period to cut the Wild lead to 3-2, but it
was pretty much all Minnesota from that point onward.
Staal scored his first goal of the game at 8:19 of the middle frame,
burying a rebound to make it 4-2, then Mikko Koivu converted a
beautiful feed from Charlie Coyle at the 17:07 mark to make it a 5-2
affair.
[to top of second column] |
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Wild forward Eric Staal (12) scores in the third period against the
St Louis Blues goalie Carter Hutton (40) at Xcel Energy Center.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
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Tarasenko netted his second of the game at 18:32 of the middle
frame, but any Blues hopes for a comeback were dashed when Jared
Spurgeon restored the Wild's three-goal edge with 16 seconds
remaining in the period.
Staal scored a pair of third-period goals to give him seven goals
and 12 points in a five-game scoring spree.
Hutton stopped 20 of 25 shots in his relief appearance for the
Blues, who have lost five straight games in regulation and are
winless in seven (0-6-1).
--Field Level Media
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