Wild come back to beat Blues 6-4 on big saves by Fleury and key goals from Boldy and Middleton

[January 08, 2025]  By DAVE CAMPBELL

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy's tiebreaking goal early in the third period for the Minnesota Wild completed their comeback from a two-score deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4 on Tuesday for their fourth straight victory. 

Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek, right, celebrates his goal with right wing Ryan Hartman during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Boldy snapped in a shot off a pass from Mats Zuccarello on a 2-on-1 rush after Blues defenseman Jake Broberg's stick broke in the neutral zone.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored for Minnesota midway through the second period, and Jake Middleton tied the game 1:16 into the third. Marcus Johansson tacked on an empty-netter.

Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas scored early in the second period for a 4-2 lead for St. Louis that prompted the Wild to pull goalie Filip Gustavsson, who'd allowed a total of three goals over two earlier wins against the Blues this season.

Marc-Andre Fleury had a stellar night in relief of Gustavsson, stopping all 16 shots he faced — including a close-range windmill glove save that robbed Dylan Holloway down the stretch.

Zach Bogosian and Jon Merrill scored 49 seconds apart to put the Wild in front with just 2:12 elapsed in the game.

Takeaways
Blues: Binnington stopped 19 shots, with his second-most goals allowed of the season.

Wild: Middleton (upper body) returned from a 10-game absence, just in time to stem the first-period departure of another vital blueliner in Brock Faber (upper body). Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon (lower body) remains sidelined indefinitely, as does star left wing Kirill Kaprizov (lower body).

Key moment
The Wild were inches from a 3-1 lead early in the second period, when a shot by Zuccarello was knocked off the goal line by Blues defenseman Colton Parayko. Jonas Brodin and Marco Rossi were denied seconds later by Binnington. Merrill then tripped Kyrou, who scored just seven seconds into the power play.

Key stat
Neighbours scored his 11th goal, his first in 12 games.

Up next
St. Louis hosts Anaheim to start a four-game homestand on Thursday, when Minnesota hosts Colorado.

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