Hartman scores twice to spark Wild past Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Hartman scored twice for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

"The opportunity to score tonight, there were a couple and they went in," Hartman said. "It feels good, but I'm happy to contribute again."
Jared Spurgeon and Jordan Greenway each had a goal and an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the Wild (21-13-2), who are 8-2-0 in their past 10.
"We started a little sleepy, but I don't think anything changed, I just think we got into the game and got our legs under us," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "Guys were always positive on the bench, even though the start wasn't what we wanted. We were able to find ourselves, obviously, pretty quickly."
Calle Rosen and Robert Bortuzzo scored, and Jordan Kyrou had two assists for the Blues (17-17-3), who went 1-1-1 on a three-game homestand. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves.
"Listen, we made too many mistakes tonight to win the hockey game. End of story," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "I thought we had a good first period, a lot of urgency. I thought we were skating. Then second period, to me, we didn't skate. We didn't move the puck very well, we didn't skate."

MIN@STL: Hartman cashes in a rebound in the 2nd

Hartman gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 1:40 of the second period. After Binnington was forechecked off the puck while playing it behind the net, Hartman was able to beat him from the slot.
Robert Bortuzzo tied it 2-2 at 5:01 with his first goal of the season, a wrist shot from the slot off a 3-on-2 with Pavel Buchnevich and Kyrou.
Hartman scored 12 seconds later to put Minnesota back in front 3-2. Binnington tried to rim the puck around the glass, but Hartman intercepted it and shot into the empty net.
"Obviously, the two goals I think affected us in the second period," Binnington said. "I've got to be better. I was too casual, and it came back to bite me in the butt. It happens. Overall, I think we've been working hard and we're building, and we believe in our team.
"Not the way you want to finish this one off this homestand. We've got a day off and right back to work and keep getting after it."
Spurgeon scored 49 seconds into the third period to make it 4-2, converting from the high slot following an offensive zone giveaway by Colton Parayko.
"Well, he's got to stay in front of the dive-in by Spurgeon there," Berube said of Parayko. "He's in good position usually, and I'd like to see our weak-side winger hold a little bit middle ice better on that goal.
"It's a mistake. Just too many mistakes tonight, easy goals for them."
Greenway shot into an empty net at 15:56 for the 5-2 final.

MIN@STL: Hartman scores his second goal of the game

Rosen gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 5:41 of the first period. He started an odd-man rush with an outlet pass before crashing the net and scoring off a pass from Robert Thomas.
Matt Dumba tied it 1-1 at 13:02, shooting glove side on Binnington after receiving a pass in the high slot from Mats Zuccarello.
It was the first meeting between the teams since the Blues defeated Minnesota in six games in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
"I feel like we owed them from last playoffs," Fleury said. "It doesn't fix last spring, but still, it's nice to get a win here."
NOTES: Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko returned after missing one game due to illness, but he left during the first period with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot by Dumba. He was seen shaking his right hand on the bench, but there was no update postgame. ... It was Minnesota's first regulation win in St. Louis since a 3-2 victory on Nov. 11, 2018. St. Louis was 9-0-1 in the previous 10 games. ... Wild forward Marcus Foligno had an assist in 13:47 after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Rosen has scored in three straight games.