Thomas scores late, Blues gain in West Division with victory against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Robert Thomas scored with 23 seconds left in the third period, and the St. Louis Blues gained ground in the Honda West Division playoff race with a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday.

Thomas gave the Blues the lead when he gained control of the puck from Jonas Brodin between the circles after Mike Hoffman flipped it from the neutral zone.
"It kind of just happened quick," Thomas said. "You see a lot of goals, like those stick battles off high flips. I was just trying to poke it through and get a shot off. Very fortunate it went in."
Hoffman had two goals and an assist for St. Louis (22-19-6), which trailed 3-1 entering the third period but rallied for its third straight win. Jordan Binnington made 26 saves.
It was the opener of a three-game set; the teams play again here Thursday.
"Yeah, even going into the [second] intermission we were talking as a group, we've come back from plenty of games this year, why not do it again," Hoffman said. " … We never gave up, [we] stuck with it. It's a game of momentum and I thought we had it the majority of the third.
"It was a good comeback win tonight. They're a good hockey club over there and the next two games are going to be just as tough to win."

Marcus Foligno had a goal and an assist for Minnesota (31-14-3), which had its seven-game winning streak end. Cam Talbot made 28 saves.
"[We] just got taught a lesson," Foligno said. "I mean, that team doesn't quit. We just kind of get complacent and leave our [goalie] out to dry. It's a [lousy] feeling, especially the way you lose with 20-something seconds left on the clock.
"We just have to make sure that we forget about this one and come back angry and hungry tomorrow."
The Blues moved three points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes for fourth place in the eight-team Honda West Division; the Coyotes lost 4-2 at the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. The top four teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Wild clinched a playoff berth Saturday and trail the Colorado Avalanche by one point for second in the West. Colorado lost 5-2 at the first-place Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

Minnesota outshot St. Louis 16-7 in the second period, but Hoffman started the Blues rally in the third when he one-timed a pass from David Perron on the power-play at 3:49 to cut it to 3-2.
Jordan Kyrou tied it 3-3 at 7:41 after a turnover by Matt Dumba.
"I thought the third period, we came out with a different mindset than we did in the second period," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I was happy [with the] first and third period tonight; second period, obviously not so happy."
Brodin gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 17:47 of the first period with a slap shot from the top of the left circle. Joel Eriksson Ek scored on a rebound 32 seconds into the second period to make it 2-0.
Hoffman took a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko for a power-play goal to cut it to 2-1 at 10:27. Foligno scored 1:02 later with a snap shot from the right circle to make it 3-1 at 11:29.
"They're a desperate team right now and they're going to play to win there at the end," Talbot said. "When it comes down to it, that's when you need a save, especially with 23 seconds left. [I've] just got to get a blocker on it, got to get something behind that one.
"It's just a tough one to swallow when you're so close to at least getting a point, taking it to overtime and anything can happen there. Third period, we needed a save and didn't get one tonight."
NOTES:Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov had his five-game goal streak end. … The Blues have scored a power-play goal in eight straight games. … St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. Berube said it's possible Parayko could play Thursday. … It was Kyrou's first goal in 15 games since he scored twice at San Jose on March 20. … Hoffman has scored 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in the past seven games. … It was Talbot's first regulation loss in eight games.