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Blues Vs. Wild Recap: Into The Wild Blue Y(e)onder

Here lies Jake Allen's shutout 00:00-59:50.

By Justin42
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Blues Lineup:

Forwards - Jaden Schwartz/Paul Stastny/Vladimir Tarasenko

Alexander Steen/Patrik Berglund/David Perron

Dmitrij Jaskin/Jori Lehtera/Magnus Paajarvi

Scottie Upshall/Kyle Brodziak/Ryan Reaves

Defensemen - Alex Pietrangelo/Jay Bouwmeester

Joel Edmundson/Colton Parayko

Carl Gunnarsson/Robert Bortuzzo

Goaltender - Jake Allen

Game Highlights:

The Blues were looking to finish up the road trip on a positive note. The road block in front of them? Only the best team in the conference in the Minnesota Wild. Quite the road bump for a team that's had its struggles as of late.

First Period -

The Blues had a great start to the game, as they were able to apply the majority of the pressure in the first moments of the game. That laid the ground work for the Blues scoring the first goal of the game. David Perron scored his 13th of the year on a great deflection in front of the net. Alexander Steen moved the puck back to Colton Parayko. Parayko fires a hard shot toward the net. Perron gets a stick on it and gives the Blues the 1-0 lead.

Shots on goal for the two teams at the end of the period: 11-9 in favor of the Wild.

Second Period -

The second period saw a shift in momentum, as the Wild tried to get back into this one. The Blues didn't sit back by any means though. Seven minutes into the period, Jaden Schwartz had the Blues best chance up to this point. The Blues set up the chance for Schwartz to just tap it into the wide open net. Snake bitten much?

Speaking of snakes, Jake Allen was having himself a great game to this point. The Blues powerplay relinquished a shorthanded breakaway to Eric Staal. Allen is able to stop Staal's backhand bid and keep the game 1-0.

The Blues then went right back down the ice. Patrik Berglund seemed to have scored just moments later. Or so everyone thought. The goal was reviewed and deemed no goal. It was ruled a goal on the ice, but not sure how they could have made that call. The views that Fox Sports Midwest had were inconclusive at best. Here's the explanation that the NHL gave:

"Video review determined Berglund's stick was above the crossbar when he deflected a puck into the Minnesota net. The puck then deflected off Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk and into the net. Rule 80.3 'When an attacking player causes the puck to enter the opponent's goal by contacting the puck above the height of the crossbar either directly or deflected off any player or official, the goal shall not be allowed'. No goal St. Louis."

Fine then. 1-0 Blues after two periods and the Wild outshot the Blues again in the 2nd 8-7.

Third Period -

Midway through the third period, Schwartz made up for the miss earlier in the game. Alex Pietrangelo keeps the puck inside of the Blues offensive zone. Pietrangelo fires it towards the net. The puck hit Schwartz who then fires the puck (no look style mind you) to a waiting Tarasenko who nets his 29th goal of the year. It's 2-0 Blues, and the Wild are starting to get frustrated.

Unlike in previous games when Blues had leads, the Blues did not sit back on it. The Blues continued to pressure the Wild for the rest of the game. Jake Allen was well on his way to back to back shutouts.

That was until the Wild scored one of the dumbest/weirdest goals you'll probably see this year. Mikko Koivu dumps the puck in from center ice, and it goes in the back of the net.

The Blues do go on to win 2-1 and that goal gave Tarasenko the game winning goal for whatever that's worth. The Blues finish the 3 game road trip 2-1 and now have 71 points on the year. The final shot on goal count was 33-20 in favor of the Wild. That's right, the Blues only had 20 shots on goal, but scored on three two of them. Thank you Jake Allen. Jori Lehtera finishes with 11:57 minutes of ice time. How much would it really hurt to sit him at this point. *Looks at contract* Oh, right. Next up for the Blues is the Anaheim Ducks in St. Louis.

From The Twitter Machine:

Yeost game comments:

So, Jake Allen back?

You're welcome....?

The "As if you could love Tarasenko anymore" of the night

Player of the Game:

Chris Stewart for doing what he usually does in a hockey game. Nothing.