Kaprizov scores twice to lift Wild over Blues

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored a pair of third-period goals, and Jonas Brodin and Ryan Hartman also scored to help the Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Filip Gustavsson made 22 saves for the Wild who improved to 12-3-3 on the season.

Scott Perunovich and Jake Neighbours scored, and Jordan Binnington made 24 saves for St. Louis, who saw Robert Thomas return to the lineup after missing 12 games with a fractured right ankle.

Brodin scored his second goal of the season with 6:16 remaining in the third period to put the Wild ahead 3-2, and Kaprizov added an empty net goal for his second of the game and 13th of the season with 1:23 remaining to clinch the win.

Neighbours scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season on a power play with 9:23 remaining in the third period to tie the game at 2-all.

Kaprizov deflected a shot from Jake Middleton past Binnington 6:07 into the third period to put Minnesota ahead 2-1.

Wild: Minnesota continued to dominate away from home improving to a league-best 8-1-2 on the road.

Blues: While Thomas returned to the lineup, the lack of depth continued to show on defense as St. Louis was playing without defensemen Nick Leddy, Philip Broberg and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

With a little more than three minutes remaining in the third period, referees Kelly Sutherland and Corey Syvret missed an apparent high sticking penalty on Jared Spurgeon that would have sent St. Louis to a late power play.

Kaprizov has 12 points (six goals, six assists) while recording at least one point in each of his last six games.

The Wild visit Edmonton while the Blues host San Jose on Thursday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl