Kyrou, Blues hold off Wild in Winter Classic

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jordan Kyrou's dream experience turned into a reality that put the St. Louis Blues forward in the national spotlight to kick off the new year.

Kyrou set an NHL outdoor game record with four points, and the Blues won the coldest game in NHL history by defeating the Minnesota Wild 6-4 in the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Target Field on Saturday.
"It's unbelievable," Kyrou said. "Any time you get to play in the Winter Classic, it's pretty cool. Growing up as a kid, it's something you always watch and dream of playing in."
Kyrou had two goals and two assists in the second period, and Jordan Binnington made 29 saves for the Blues (19-9-5), who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games and improved to 2-0-0 in Winter Classic games (defeated Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in 2017).
"[Kyrou's] on the big stage tonight, and I think he showed everybody what he can do," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "He's a talented guy, has a great shot and great skill, and he showed it."

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists for the Wild (19-10-2), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1) and were playing their first game since Dec. 20.
"We lost four in a row, we have to come out with some push and urgency, and we didn't do that," Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello said. "I don't care when we last played. That's not acceptable for us as a team, I think we all know it."
Cam Talbot made 22 saves before being replaced at the start of the third period by Kaapo Kahkonen, who made four saves. Wild coach Dean Evason said Talbot was pulled because of a lower-body injury.
"It wasn't precautionary," Evason said. "We wouldn't have taken him out of that hockey game. He's a battler. He's a competitive guy. We don't take him out of that game because he's still going to give us a chance to come back."

The official temperature at the start of the game was minus 5.7. The previous coldest game on record was the 2003 Heritage Classic between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Nov. 22, 2003 (zero degrees).
As a result, water bottles were filled with chicken broth, which was also available to the players during the intermissions.
Binnington said it was hardest on his feet and hands, but he was constantly being supplied with warmers from the Blues training staff.
"I've watched a couple of these games and a couple interviews after, and everyone always says how much work goes into it," Binnington said. "Being a part of it, I can really say it's incredible just from the ice crew to make this all possible. I think we all appreciate the work that went into it, and it was a really fun experience. Just seeing that many people in the stadium (a sellout of 38,619) cheering and some fireworks, it was a crazy show and it's something we'll always remember."
David Perron gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 14:29 of the first period, but Kaprizov responded 25 seconds later to tie it 1-1.
The Blues answered back with five goals in the second period, setting an NHL outdoor game record for most goals in a period. Kyrou factored in on four of them.
"His energy, the way he came out with confidence, he was making plays," St. Louis captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "It's not easy out there on that ice, pucks are bouncing a lot, and for him to have the confidence to handle the puck the way he did and some of the plays he made, it didn't bother him at all. It was impressive to see."

Kyrou put the Blues in front 2-1 when his centering pass to Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot deflected in off the stick of Ryan Hartman 27 seconds into the second period.
Kyrou then connected with Tarasenko for a one-timer to make it 3-1 at 8:55.
Ivan Barbashev scored a power-play goal to push the lead to 4-1 at 14:46 when he got to the rebound of a shot by Kyrou, who beat Talbot glove side from the left circle off a give-and-go with Robert Thomas at 17:58 to make it 5-1.
Rem Pitlick got the Wild to within 5-2 at 18:38, but Torey Krug scored at 19:19 to make it 6-2.
"It's difficult," Evason said. "Obviously, we do what I'm sure you guys are doing. Why? What happened? I think they got to their game quicker than we got to ours. We didn't get to ours obviously until the end. We talked to the group about our sense of urgency has to be way quicker than the last 10 minutes of a hockey game when we're pulling goalies."

Hartman scored at 8:40 of the third period to cut it to 6-3, and Kevin Fiala scored with Kahkonen pulled for the extra skater at 14:22 to make it 6-4.
However, the Blues called a timeout after Fiala's goal and were able to lock down the win in the final 5:38, when Binnington made six of his 16 saves in the third.
"It was so much fun," O'Reilly said. "To win it on top of that, especially to be scoring goals, guys feeling good about their games and making nice plays, it was a special one."
NOTES: The 10 goals between the Wild and Blues tied for the highest scoring outdoor game in NHL history. It happened three times previously (2009 Winter Classic, Detroit Red Wings and Blackhawks; 2014 Stadium Series, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils; 2021 NHL Outdoors, Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins). … Kyrou, who also had three points (one goal, two assists) in a 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, is second on St. Louis with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 29 games this season.