Blues recover against Wild, clinch playoff berth with eighth straight win

ST. LOUIS --The St. Louis Blues clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they won their eighth straight game, 6-5 in overtime against the Minnesota Wild at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Brayden Schenn scored 56 seconds into overtime after he took a pass in the high slot following a Pavel Buchnevich wraparound.
"Yeah, 'Buchy' just kind of feeling it, making a lot of plays," Schenn said. "Tried the defenseman 1-on-1, ended up beating him to the wraparound and [Justin Faulk] is going to the net and I was just kind of sitting there waiting if it was going to pop out and it did."
Schenn and Buchnevich each had a goal and two assists, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in his fourth straight game for the Blues (45-20-10), who are 10-0-1 in their past 11 games.
St. Louis clinched a playoff berth for the fourth straight season.
"It's kind of a main goal for us for the regular season and it's good," Buchnevich said. "We still have a job to do in the regular season."

Ville Husso made 31 saves for St. Louis, which moved one point ahead of Minnesota for second in the Central Division.
Ryan Hartman had two goals and an assist, and Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist for the Wild (46-21-7), who pushed their point streak to four games (3-0-1). Cam Talbot made 24 saves.
Minnesota trailed 4-1 entering the third period.
"We just kept doing what we normally do, just stayed the course we just kept playing," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We caught a few breaks. I think our momentum just flowed into the third there and I liked our resilience obviously again, so that's good."
Hartman made it 4-2 at 3:09 of the third when his centering pass deflected over Husso and off St. Louis defenseman Marco Scandella.Frederick Gaudreau scored at 4:41 to make it 4-3 on a one-timer off a pass from Kevin Fiala.
Buchnevich made it 5-3 at 9:15 with the teams skating 4-on-4 with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Marcus Foligno and Kaprizov scored 58 seconds apart to tie the game. Foligno's power-play goal at 14:00 made it 5-4 off a rebound in the slot, and Kaprizov scored at 14:58 to make it 5-5 following a Parayko turnover.
"We played a little faster," Hartman said. "They're able to play fast because they get pucks out of their zone and they're able to just go without worrying about it. I think we were able to do that there in the third. It's a 60-minute game, right? They came back on us last time (4-3 Blues overtime win on April 8) to tie it up and go to overtime and we did the same. It was nice to be able to tie that game."
It was Kaprizov's 43rd goal of the season to set the Wild single-season record.
"It feels good … But it really [stinks] to be able to come back all the way, push it to overtime and end up losing," Kaprizov said. "Those are always the toughest games."

Ivan Barbashev scored at 13:03 of the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead on a goalmouth scramble.
Hartman tied it 1-1 at 1:41 of the second period, collecting a loose puck and beating Husso from the low slot.
Tarasenko made it 2-1 at 3:24, one-timing a Parayko backhand pass through the slot at the right side of the post. It was his seventh goal in the past four games.
David Perron's one-timer from the left circle at 6:52 made it 3-1 as a power play expired.
Brandon Saad made it 4-1 at 13:38 with a backhand.
"Our puck play in the third period wasn't very good," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We turned some pucks over. They capitalized on them, tied it up, got the lead again, kind of a back and forth game in the third. Not like we wanted it, but we hung in there and got a win."
NOTES:Kaprizov had been tied with Marian Gaborik (2007-08) and Eric Staal (2017-18) for the Wild single-season goals record. ... Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello (two assists) set the team record for assists in a season with 52. ... St. Louis is 12-1-1 against Minnesota the past 12 games, including winning seven in a row. … The Blues have scored four or more goals in 11 straight games, a St. Louis record. ... Blues center Robert Thomas had an assist to extend his NHL career-high point streak to 12 games (24 points; six goals, 18 assists). ... Buchnevich extended his point streak to nine games (17 points; six goals, 11 assists). ... St. Louis defenseman Nick Leddy left the game in the second period after taking a high stick from Wild forward Kevin Fiala. Berube said it's not likely Leddy plays Sunday at the Nashville Predators. ... Minnesota forward Tyson Jost sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and will not play Sunday against the San Jose Sharks, Evason said.