Binnington makes 21 saves, Blues defeat Wild

ST. LOUIS -- Jordan Binnington made 21 saves to help the St. Louis Blues end a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Torey Krug had a goal and an assist, and Alexey Toropchenko and Jake Neighbours scored for St. Louis (31-26-3), which was 0-2-1 in the past three games.

"It’s important. We’re going on a road trip right now, and we’re a few points back, so whenever you’re at home, you try to collect as many as you can," Krug said. "Important for our group, even our group confidence and psyche moving forward, it’s important for us."

Jon Merrill scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for Minnesota (28-27-6), which has lost three straight after winning seven of nine (7-1-1).

"It was definitely the effort and the competitiveness you need to win," Wild coach John Hynes said. "Unfortunately, tonight, we had lots of chances, lots of offensive zone time, but we couldn't find a way to put it in."

Toropchenko gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 6:34 of the first when his deflection of a Scott Perunovich point shot hit off the right post, off Fleury's left skate and slid just over the goal line. It was his 10th goal of the season, tying a career high.

"[Brandon Saad] went to the corner, and he turned around and found Scotty on the top of the blue line," Toropchenko said. "I just parked myself in front of the net, just kind of grabbed two guys behind me and saw Scotty was looking at me. I was trying to get the stick to the right position, so it worked."

Merrill tied it 1-1 at 10:06 of the second period. After the Blues failed to get a puck out at the blue line, defenseman Justin Faulk’s pass went right to Merrill, who shot through traffic from the high slot.

Neighbours’ 20th goal restored the St. Louis lead 2-1 at 12:53 when he slid a rebound past Fleury on the power play. Minnesota unsuccessfully challenged the goal for goaltender interference on Neighbours.

"I thought it was offside originally, maybe that that's what they were challenging for, but when I saw the replay, I was pretty confident it was a goal, yeah," Neighbours said. "... That one was just lucky. It probably would have went in if it didn't hit me, but it hit me in the leg and was kind of just sitting there for me. It's just the benefit of being around the net. Sometimes you get some lucky bounces."

The Wild said they felt they hurt their momentum being on the penalty kill too often. Minnesota was effective short-handed though (6-for-7), including 39 seconds of 5-on-3.

"We had a lot of penalties tonight," Fleury said. "It's tough to get momentum, tough to get chances when you're always defending.

"Guys played well. They played pretty good. They got a good bounce on that goal there. It's tough to get some offense when you're playing on the PK."

Krug scored into an empty net at 19:11 of the third period for the 3-1 final.

"I think for us, in the past, we haven't played well in these games," St. Louis coach Drew Bannister said. "By no means do I think we played our best, but I do think we found a way to win in the end. That's an important game for us, and that's an important two points, and we've got to build momentum off this going onto the road."

NOTES: Binnington passed Curtis Joseph for sole possession of third place on the Blues' all-time goalie wins list (138). ... Krug has 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 27 games against the Wild. ... Blues center Robert Thomas has 23 points (four goals, 19 assists) in the past 17 games. ... Minnesota forward Mason Shaw played 7:12 in his season debut; he replaced Frederick Gaudreau, who did not play because of an upper-body injury. ... Wild forward Ryan Hartman had a four-game point streak end (five assists).