Wild top Blues, end skid in John Hynes' debut

Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau each scored a first-period goal and Minnesota snapped a seven-game losing streak in John Hynes' Wild coaching debut with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday in Saint Paul, Minn.

A day after Dean Evason was relieved of his coaching duties, the Wild won for just the sixth time in 20 games this season.

With former New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators boss Hynes behind the Minnesota bench, Eriksson Ek recorded his team-leading 11th goal by scoring in a third straight contest, Gaudreau notched his first point of 2022-23 and Matt Boldy added a third-period insurance tally to halt the team's 0-5-2 slide.

Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots and the Wild killed a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Boldy issued at 7:55 of the third period.

St. Louis entered a winner in three of four amid an 8-4-0 stretch but managed only defenseman Colton Parayko's fourth goal of the season. The Blues' Jordan Binnington kept his team in the game by stopping 34 shots, including all 17 he faced in the second period.

Desperate for a strong start, the Wild delivered by opening the scoring just 2:41 into the game. Moments after Minnesota killed off a St. Louis power play, Mats Zuccarello possessed the puck behind the net on a broken play, then found Eriksson Ek on the doorstep to beat Binnington.

The Blues answered at 10:30 of the opening frame. With St. Louis pressuring in the Minnesota zone, the puck found its way to the left circle, where Parayko sent a wrister past Gustavsson.

The Wild regained the lead at 18:10 of the first. Scoreless in his first nine games of the season, Gaudreau sent a shot through the legs of teammate Marcus Foligno, who screened Binnington, and into the net.

Minnesota outshot the Blues 17-5 during a scoreless second period, then put the game away on Boldy's successful breakaway goal with 2:52 remaining in the contest.

—Field Level Media