Wild celebrates a host of milestones in win at St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- Greg Pateryn was a franchise-best plus-5 on Saturday night for the Wild in its 5-1 win against the St. Louis Blues.
The Wild defenseman's only assist didn't show up on the scoresheet, however. Following Nick Seeler's goal 5:27 into the contest, it was Pateryn who went and fished the puck out of the net, a keepsake the Eden Prairie native will cherish for the rest of his life.
"It's awesome. I remember my feeling when I got my first," Pateryn said. "It's something you'll never forget. I'm happy for him."

Seeler entered the game Saturday scoreless in his first 12 games this season, but changed that in a hurry. He assisted on Eric Staal's goal at 4:42 of the game, then scored his goal less than 60 seconds later.

He added his third point of the game on a goal by Eric Fehr midway through the third period. Not bad for a guy who came into the contest with four points total in his first 34 games in the NHL.
"It's nice to have that first one go in. It was exciting," Seeler said. "I was just trying to get more pucks to the net and create more offense. We played so well as a team tonight. It was a great team win. It was fun."
Pateryn's record-tying night was one of many milestones accomplished by Minnesota in a roughing up of its Central Division rivals.

While Seeler's goal was his first in the NHL, Staal tallied his 400th less than a minute prior, becoming the sixth active player (and 96th in League history) to reach the 400 plateau.
"It's hard to focus on stuff like that when you feel like you're still in the middle of it," Staal said. "I've been fortunate to be able to play for a while with some great players and great linemates and great teammates, and I've been the beneficiary of a lot of great plays, and hopefully there's a lot more yet. I'm looking forward to the rest of this year and the rest of my career."
Later in the first, it was Burnsville native JT Brown tallying his first goal in a Wild uniform, taking advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone and flying in on a breakaway.
"It's definitely good; you always want to score," Brown said. "It's the most fun part of the game."

Pateryn joined Jared Spurgeon, Clayton Stoner and Todd White as the only players in franchise history to post a plus-5 in a single game.
Jordan Greenway posted his first career multi-point game.
MIkael Granlund ran his points streak to 10 games, two games shy of his own franchise record.
As a team, the Wild allowed a season-low 15 shots on goal, while posting 45 shots of its own, second-most this year.

"I think we're in a better groove. But I think there's room for improvement. I think tonight was probably our best full 60 [minute] effort," Staal said. "There's always areas to improve and get better with. It's taken a little time for us to feel the full mojo. We have enough talent in our lineup to -- when you're not having your best night -- to find a way to get points and wins. That's what this league is about. It's a long year, and you need to find ways certain times. Tonight wasn't a night like that. But we will take a lot more like these."
The win improved Minnesota to 2-1-0 on its franchise-long seven-game road swing. A winner in seven of its past eight games, the Wild will get a day off in the Twin Cities on Sunday before heading west to California for what most consider the toughest road trip in hockey.
Luckily for the Wild, it will enter that sojourn playing its best hockey of the young season. Asked if he felt his team was peaking, Wild coach Bruce Boudreau was hesitant to admit it.

The season, after all, is not yet a month old.
"I hope we're not peaking. It's Game 13. That's a long time," Boudreau said. "You just want to get better. We did some things today after the practice yesterday that I thought were really good. After watching the video, they did some things that really worked well. And they did it. Really, it was nice."
Related:
Postgame Hat Trick: Minnesota 5, St. Louis 1