Ville Husso made 31 saves to earn his first career shutout as the St. Louis Blues blanked the visiting Minnesota Wild 4-0 Wednesday night.
David Perron (goal, two assists) and Torey Krug (goal, assist) paced the offense for the fast-finishing Blues (26-20-9, 61 points). They have earned points in 10 of their last 11 games while going 7-1-3.
The Blues, who are 5-1-1 against the Wild this season, also got goals from Ivan Barbashev and Jaden Schwartz.
The Wild (35-15-5, 75 points) came into the game with an outside shot at finishing second in the West Division. But that quest ended with the loss and they settled for third place.
Nothing will be at stake when the Wild and Blues conclude their regular season with a Thursday rematch.
Cam Talbot stopped 23 of 27 shots for the Wild, who have allowed three or more goals in nine straight games.
The Blues struck first with 7:06 left in the first period. Perron fired a sharp-angle shot from the right wing, and Barbashev punched the rebound through Talbot to put the Blues up 1-0.
Schwartz doubled that lead with 5:20 left in the period. Jordan Kyrou rolled the puck through the crease and Schwartz poked it into the open side of the net with a diving effort.
Husso made 13 saves in the up-tempo period, including several from point-blank range, to keep the Blues in control.
Krug made it 3-0 midway through the second period. Ryan O’Reilly circled the net with the puck and fed Krug as he broke toward the right post for a point-blank shot that bled through Talbot.
With the teams playing 4-on-4 due to matching penalties, Perron whipped a one-time shot past Talbot from the high slot to put the Blues up 4-0 with 6:50 left in the second.
–Field Level Media