Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 2, Blues 0

On Thursday night, the Wild scored a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Wild.com's Dan Myers provides three takeaways in the Postgame Hat Trick, presented by Associated Bank. Learn more on how to score up to $500 by opening a Wild Checking account.

1. Hoppin' right off the hop.
The Wild and Blues have a budding rivalry, now having shared a division for a decade and played one another in a couple of playoff series.
Thursday's matchup between the clubs was the first of the season, but it didn't take long for these traditional Central foes to get right back into the swing of things.
One second, to be exact.
As centers Braden Schenn and Ryan Hartman approached each other for the opening faceoff, the two veterans began chatting, setting the stage for a fight one tick into the hockey game.
It set the tone for a busy opening 20 for the penalty box operator, as both the Wild and Blues each earned two power play chances. Neither was successful, as the two teams went into the first intermission scoreless.
2. Ya don't see that every day.
One can spend every day watching hockey, and every once in a while, you'll see something you've never seen before.
That was the case midway through the second period, with the Blues on the power play, when South St. Paul native Justin Faulk wound up for a big one-timer slap shot. He got every bit of it too, drilling Cam Talbot right in the facemask.
That was just the start of the adventure.

Instead of ricocheting away, the puck stuck ... in the cage on his mask.
It must have been an incredible sight from Talbot's point of view, huge slapper headed right for your face, only to see the puck stop about an inch from your eye socket.
Talbot, by the way, was outstanding on the night, finishing with 37 saves. He's now won his past seven starts at Xcel Energy Center.
3. Things that make you go wow.
It only takes one guess to figure out who hit the highlight reel once again on Thursday night, and yeah, it's Kirill Kaprizov.
A few minutes after Talbot's face cage save, Kaprizov entered the offensive zone with speed, one-on-one with St. Louis' big-time offseason acquisition, defenseman Torey Krug.
Flying down the left wing, Kaprizov toe-dragged around Krug to create some space, then fired a whistler through the right arm pit of Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and under the crossbar.

The goal was Kaprizov's first since his March 12 hat trick, and tied Joel Eriksson Ek for the team lead with 11 this season.
Kaprizov, who snapped a three-game points drought with an assist on Tuesday against Anaheim, leads all NHL rookies in goals (11), assists (16) and points (27) this season.