Blues shut out Wild, tie their record with 10th win in row

ST. PAUL, Minn. --The St. Louis Blues tied their record with their 10th straight win, including their third consecutive shutout, 4-0 against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

St. Louis, which tied the Buffalo Sabres (Nov. 8-27) for the longest winning streak in the NHL this season, also won 10 in a row from Jan. 3-23, 2002. The Blues' streak of three consecutive shutouts is their longest since they had four straight from March 19-26, 2016.
"I think that it's everybody," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "The defense is doing a great job, they're big guys getting in the way and big sticks, and then forwards are coming back and goalies are stopping the puck. It's everybody on the ice, it's not just one or two players, it's everybody buying in to doing their job."
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Wild highlights]
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 12 games for St. Louis (31-22-5), which is in third place in the Central Division, four points ahead of the Dallas Stars.
Jordan Binnington made 31 saves for his eighth straight victory, passing Brent Johnson for the longest winning streak by a rookie in Blues history.
"Good timing," said Binnington, who has a .949 save percentage and three shutouts during his streak. "I think the team's really caught their stride. We're playing well every game, we're off to great starts and that kind of sets the tone for the rest of the game. So hopefully we can continue our success here."

Alex Stalock made 26 saves for Minnesota (27-26-6), which has lost eight of its past nine games (1-5-3) and leads the Vancouver Canucks by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"There's a lot of stuff that's we're just not doing well enough," Wild forward Zach Parise said. "It changes night to night. … I just don't feel like we're really competing that hard. I mean, we did for a couple games, but for the most part there's no jam. And I don't know why. I think at this time of the year it should be and we better find it otherwise we're not going to get out of this thing. It's just going to get deeper and deeper."
Tarasenko gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal off a cross-ice pass from Ryan O'Reilly at 5:08 of the first period. He has 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in his point streak.
O'Reilly made it 2-0 with another power-play goal at 19:30, taking a cross-ice pass and beating a screened Stalock from the right circle. Tarasenko had the primary assist on the play for his 400th NHL point.
Vince Dunn extended the lead 3-0 at 7:27 of the second period, converting off a 3-on-1 from the high slot, and Brayden Schenn made it 4-0 at 12:06 when his backhand on a 2-on-1 deflected in off a diving Nick Seeler.
"We're still not satisfied," O'Reilly said. "We want to keep climbing. I think we had really high expectations at the beginning (of the season). It took us a while. I think it was frustrating, but we stuck with it. We kept fighting for wins and staying in the hunt. We found our game and it's been good. We've climbed back into this (playoff) race. We're in a good spot now. We're going to keep continuing to climb."

They said it

"I think when I took over, overall, it takes a little bit of time to get the confidence and believe in what you're trying to do, the whole team. And that's what takes a little bit of time sometimes, but right now, they bought in and they're all doing a good job and we're all on the same page. When you're all on the same page and working for each other and playing for each other, good things happen." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"Everybody wants to count us out because we're not playing well right now. But at the same time, I believe we're going to turn it around. We always have in the past. We just need that one spark I think. I know I've said this a little bit too many times right now, but I still believe. I don't want to sit there for the last eight weeks, 'What are we going to do? Are we selling everything because we're not in first place, because we're not going to get 100 points?' The goal is to make the playoffs and then go from there." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Need to know

St. Louis has outscored its opponents 40-14 in its past 10 games. … O'Reilly has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his past 15 games. … Schenn has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his past 10 games. … Tarasenko reached 400 NHL points in 478 games, fifth fastest in Blues history behind Garry Unger (414), Pavol Demitra (401), Bernie Federko (371), and Brett Hull (288). … Binnington became the seventh goalie in NHL history with at least four shutouts in his first 14 starts. … Minnesota has allowed at least four goals in six of its past eight games.

What's next

Blues:Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, SNO, NHL.TV)
Wild:Host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, PRIME, NHL.TV)