The St. Louis Blues came into Sunday’s game fresh and ready to go and it showed. The Blues last played against Ottawa on Tuesday night. With so many injured bodies, the break came like a breath of fresh air. Instead of showing up rusty and out of sorts, the Blues were ready to play from the drop of the puck.
Jori Lehtera and Ryan Reaves both scored in the first period to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
The Wild challenged Reaves’ goal because they felt Kyle Brodziak was offside.
After review, the call on the ice was upheld. It was a good goal.
To read the NHL’s explanation of the call, click here.
It’s safe to say that Devan Dubnyk didn’t agree with the referee’s decision:
Dubnyk on 2nd goal:"it's so offside that both our defense men stopped playing. Guys on the other bench are laughing after the goal." #mnaild
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 7, 2016
Dubnyk: "you've got the guy that made the call on the ice looking at the iPad making the call, it doesn't really make much sense"
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 7, 2016
Dubnyk: "you don't have the guy on the ice making call on an iPad that's 4 inches big. Doesn't make sense." Thinks Toronto should make call
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 7, 2016
Patrik Berglund extended his team’s lead to 3-0. Berglund’s goal spelled the end of the night for Dubnyk, as he was pulled in favor of Darcy Kuemper. The move didn’t pay dividends immediately, but Minnesota did manage to score two third period goals to cut the lead to 3-2.
Unfortunately for the Wild, that’s as close as they would come to leveling the score. Blues rookie Robby Fabbri scored in an empty net to secure the victory.
The Blues are in no danger of being caught by the Wild in the Central Division standings, but divisional wins are always important.
The loss put an end to Minnesota’s four-game winning streak. The Wild have a two-point lead over the Avalanche for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Both teams have played the same amount of games and have the same amount of regulation/overtime wins.
