Ryan Hartman scored a pair of goals, and the Minnesota Wild pulled away for a 5-0 win over the host St. Louis Blues in the season opener for both teams Thursday night.
Matt Boldy added a goal and two assists for Minnesota. Marco Rossi finished with a goal and an assist, Joel Eriksson Ek scored a goal, and Kirill Kaprizov notched three assists.
Tyler Tucker tallied four shots on goal to lead St. Louis. Fellow defenseman Justin Faulk recorded a team-high three blocked shots.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped all 27 shots he faced. It was the 12th career shutout for the 27-year-old who registered a career-high five shutouts last season.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington allowed five goals on 21 shots.
Hartman opened the scoring for Minnesota with 4:06 remaining in the first period. He evaded a Blues defender and crashed toward the net before slipping a shot between Binnington’s pads.
Less than two minutes later, Boldy scored to put the Wild on top 2-0. Kaprizov slid a pass to the low slot, and Boldy deflected it up and over Binnington’s left shoulder.
Minnesota made it 3-0 on a power-play goal with 7:33 to go in the second period. Boldy fired a long shot from the blue line, and Eriksson Ek punched in the loose puck for the goal.
The play marked Eriksson Ek’s 300th career point, all of which have come in nine seasons with the Wild.
Hartman tallied his second goal of the game with 2:24 left in the second period. He scored on a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the left circle.
Rossi increased Minnesota’s lead to 5-0 with 12:33 remaining in the third period. He collected a loose puck in the low slot and lifted a shot past Binnington.
The Wild played without injured veterans Jonas Brodin and Nico Sturm. Brodin’s return is “imminent,” coach John Hynes said before the game, but Sturm could miss the next 6-8 weeks because of a back injury.
–Field Level Media
