The hapless St. Louis Blues were at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota on Saturday night and ran into a buzz saw. The Minnesota Wild are playing some good hockey lately, with two wins over the Detroit Red Wings, one against the Vancouver Canucks, and now the Blues in their last four games.
Defending a two goal lead that was earned in the second period, the Wild held off a third period late rush by the Blues to pick up their fourth straight win.
Wild's Dany Heatley got the scoring going for the Wild in a, well, wild second period that saw 11 (!) penalties being whistled. It was his fourth goal of the season, assisted on by Mikko Koivu and Nate Prosser.
Guillame Latendresse added what would ultimately be the game-winner late in the period on an unassisted backhander.
The Blues put up a late fight, finally lighting the lamp at the 17:58 mark. But Wild goaltender Josh Harding was able to keep the tying puck out of the net. He saved 30-of-31 shots he faced and improved to 4-0-1 on the season and improving upon his 1.22 GAA in four games this season (not including tonight's game).
The red-hot Wild don't play again until Tuesday when they travel to Calgary to take on the Flames.