(St. Louis) Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Thursday night to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Posted at 6:14 a.m.
Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the second period as the Blues outshot their opponents 22-5.
Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko, in an empty net, completed the scoring for the Blues, who won their first series since defeating the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. David Perron added two aids.
The Blues will now head to Colorado to face the Avalanche. The date and time of the first duel are still unknown.
Matt Dumba was the lone scorer for the Wild, who fired three pucks off a post during the game, including two in the third period.
After losing the last two games and facing elimination, Wild head coach Dean Evason turned to Cam Talbot as the starting goaltender rather than Marc-André Fleury. Talbot, who finished the season with a 13-0-3 streak, stopped 22 pucks.
Leddy gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with 5:01 remaining in the first period. It was the first goal scored by a Blues defenseman in this series.
Binnington helped the Blues weather a tough first period and turned away several Wild scoring opportunities. He also received help from his post following a throw from Marcus Foligno.
O’Reilly’s power-play goal gave the Blues a 2-0 lead midway through the second period. Brayden Schenn set the stage for his one-timer with a perfect pass from behind the net.
Bozak added to the lead by jumping on a rebound from Alexei Toropchenko later in the period. Tarasenko took advantage of a power play to make it 4-0 in favor of the Blues.