Blues end slide by beating Blues in shootout

They couldn't do it in regulation or overtime, so the Minnesota Wild finally ended their free fall by winning a shootout.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored in regulation and in the tiebreaker as the Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 at the Scottrade Center on Tuesday night to end an eight-game losing streak that dropped them to 12th in the Western Conference.

"It's just good for the guys to get a win," said forward Eric Nystrom, who had the other goal in regulation. "It's really hard on us. You leave the rink and you want to leave the game there, but it just dwells on you. It's good to feel good about ourselves."

Chris Stewart scored twice for the fifth time in 20 games since joining the Blues, who had their penalty kill unit out for more than half of the overtime.

The Wild were much tighter defensively than they were Saturday night in Minnesota, when the Blues outshot the Wild 47-16 in a 6-3 win. This time, the margin was just 29-28.

"Overall we played a good game, but we got in penalty trouble," Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak said. "Especially at the end of the game we've got to keep it simple. At least we got one point."

The Wild outshot St. Louis 8-1 in the extra period, but couldn't beat Halak.

"I always say it's a good sign when you get chances," said Mikko Koivu, who got the deciding goal in the shootout. "Keep getting shots like that and opportunities will go in sooner or later."

Bouchard and Koivu beat Halak the first two rounds of the shootout while Jose Theodore stopped two of the Blues' three attempts. Minnesota, which had been outscored 37-12 during the slump, also tied a franchise record with its 19th road victory.

Stewart's backhander put the Blues up 2-1 on the first shot of the third period. But the Wild quickly answered as Bouchard circled the offensive zone before tying it less than 2 1/2 minutes later.

Nystrom ended an eight-game point drought on the Wild's first shot of the game from the high slot, perhaps catching Halak off guard. The Blues tied it midway through the first period on Stewart's one-timer off Patrik Berglund's backhand feed from the side of the net.

Stewart has 12 goals in 20 games since coming in a trade from Colorado, including seven on the power play.

"I said that from Day 1, as soon as I got here the adjustment was very easy," Stewart said. "They made the transition for me so easy I felt like I'd been here my whole career."

Material from team media and wire services was used in this report.