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St. Louis at Minnesota

 

St. Louis at Minnesota

     
    Blues 4, Wild 1

    ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The St. Louis Blues have found a potent power-play combination.

    Andy McDonald scored two power-play goals and Patrik Berglund also connected with the man advantage in the Blues' 4-1 exhibition victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

    Alexander Steen also scored for St. Louis (3-1-1).

    Steen, Berglund and McDonald scored in the first period to give St. Louis a 3-0 lead. St. Louis, which had just one power-play goal in its first four exhibition games, was 3 for 4 with the man advantage.

    "We just tried to emphasize getting our shot-based power play and getting shots through," said Erik Johnson, who joined Paul Kariya at the point on the power play. "We felt pretty good, but there's still room for improvement."

    McDonald scored his second power play goal midway through the second period, banking a shot off the skate of Minnesota's Jamie Sifers past Niklas Backstrom, who had little chance on any of the St. Louis goals.

    McDonald, Brad Boyes and Keith Tkachuk were up front on the Blues' best power-play unit.

    "This was the first time that we've had all our power play people on the ice in one game. We've worked on that the last couple days so that's really nice to see," coach Andy Murray said. "We should have scored on the fourth one, too."

    Eric Belanger scored on the power play with 2:45 remaining for Minnesota (2-3-0), which was playing without four forwards from its projected regular-season lineup.

    Minnesota was 1 for 6 on the power play.

    "I didn't think our compete factor was there for a good portion of the game," Minnesota coach Todd Richards said. "We had some guys whose levels were too low, and I know there's more there."

    Chris Mason stopped 10 shots and Ty Conklin seven for St. Louis, which plays Saturday in Dallas and then heads to Sweden for its final exhibition game Tuesday, followed by a season-opening two games with Detroit on Oct. 2-3 in Stockholm.

    Minnesota played without Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu, who are battling leg injuries and have yet to play in an exhibition game, although each skated with the team Thursday. Also missing were Pierre-Marc Bouchard (illness) and Petr Sykora (ankle).

    Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
     
     
     

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    Scoreboard
    St. Louis «3104
    Minnesota0011
    Scoring Summary
    1st Period
    8:15Power Play - Patrik Berglund - Assist: David Perron
    11:41Alexander Steen - Assists: Jay McClement and Barret Jackman
    14:04Power Play - Andy McDonald - Assists: Brad Boyes and Erik Johnson
    2nd Period
    12:20Power Play - Andy McDonald - Assists: T.J. Oshie and Paul Kariya
    3rd Period
    17:15Power Play - Eric Belanger - Assists: Kim Johnsson and Antti Miettinen
    Penalty Summary
    1st Period
    3:21David Backes: tripping - minor
    6:57Martin Havlat: hooking - minor
    13:34Owen Nolan: unsportsmanlike-conduct - minor
    2nd Period
    3:27Brent Burns: holding - minor
    10:29Nick Schultz: hooking - minor
    14:47B.J. Crombeen: holding stick - minor
    18:39Patrik Berglund: interference - minor
    3rd Period
    4:14Erik Johnson: delay-of-game - minor
    6:24Cal Clutterbuck: misconduct - double misconduct
    13:50David Perron: tripping - minor
    16:35David Perron: slashing - minor
    Shots on Goal
     123OTT
    St. Louis7113-21
    Minnesota765-18
    Goalies
    GoalieMINSSGA
    Ty Conklin29:5971
    Chris Mason30:01100
    Niklas Backstrom59:57174
    Game Information
    Attendance - 18064
    Referees - Kerry Fraser, Dean Morton
    Linesmen - Steve Barton, Dan Schachte
     
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