Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak makes a stop on a shot by the Minnesota Wild in the first period. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Blues’ forward Alex Steen scored his 18th and 19th goals to pull within one of the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead, and Vladimir Sobotka scored his second in as many games as the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 on Monday night. The Blues are now a League-best plus-32 in goal differential.
Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 22 save for his 27th career shutout, and a franchise-record 18th as a member of the Blues and his second this season. Halak, who is 13-3-2 with a 2.21 goals-against average and .911 save percentage. Minnesota thought it had a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the game when Parise tipped Ryan Suter’s shot from the left point past Halak. The goal was waved off, the call being that Parise’s stick was above the crossbar, and after a lengthy review, it was determined video was inconclusive.
Dominating stat: Â The Blues have won six in a row against the Wild, outscoring Minnesota 19-7 over that span. They are 8-0-3 in the past 11 against Minnesota at Scottrade Center, dating back to the Wild’s most-recent regulation win there Oct. 20, 2007.
