Taking tough losses in Games 2 and 3, the St. Louis Blues responded in strong fashion to even the series against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday in Game 4.
In front of an energetic crowd at Enterprise Center, the Blues took the pressure of a potential 3-1 deficit in stride and played with force to a 5-2 victory. David Perron had his second multi-goal game of the Playoffs, and Jordan Kyrou dipped through the Wild defense for a highlight-reel finish to add his second goal of the night.
Ryan O'Reilly sealed the win with a power-play goal in the third - after a touching Mother's Day tribute to his mom, Bonnie, who was watching from the stands.
Jordan Binnington, in a performance reminiscent of his 2019 Stanley Cup run, delivered 28 saves to notch his 17th career postseason victory - joining Mike Liut and Greg Millen for most in franchise history.
"We wanted to make a switch (in goal) - we lost two in a row - and wanted to just change the momentum and our look a little bit," said Blues Head Coach Craig Berube. "I thought (Binnington) was really good tonight - played the puck exceptionally well."
With the depth of the defensive core still facing numerous injuries - including Marco Scandella exiting Game 4 with a re-aggravated lower-body injury - Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk carried a massive load, each eclipsing 30 minutes for the first time all season and adding one assist apiece. The Blues certainly hope that Nick Leddy and Robert Bortuzzo - deemed "decent" possibilities to play the pivotal Game 5 - are healthy and ready to go as soon as they can.
NOTEWORTHY STATS
- When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 in the NHL, the winner of Game 5 holds an all-time series record of 219-58 (.791).
-The Blues hold an all-time series record of 12-2 (.857) when they lead a series 3-2, including 6-2 when starting on the road.
-The Blues have recorded at least one power-play goal in all four games against Minnesota so far in the postseason, scoring five goals on 18 opportunities.
THEY SAID IT
"Anytime you can get the first goal, it's a huge confidence booster for the team. Especially here at home, the crowd was unbelievable tonight - definitely got us going." - Jordan Kyrou after scoring two goals in Game 4
"I think we still created some momentum, and that's the most important part. Of course we want to get some goals in, but there were opportunities there." - Wild forward Freddy Gaudreau after Game 4
BLUE NOTES
Perron scored twice and added an assist in Game 4, bringing him to 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in his last 16 postseason games... Torey Krug leads all Blues with 46 career postseason assists and 57 career postseason points, but he is out with a lower-body injury... Scott Perunovich made his career postseason debut in Game 4, recording his first career postseason point with an assist... Perron and Ryan O'Reilly share first place in the NHL with two power-play goals this postseason, joining Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog.
Blues aim to contain Wild star Kirill Kaprizov in Game 5
The best-of-seven first-round playoff series between St. Louis and Minnesota has become a best-of-three.
The Blues return to St. Paul, Minn., on Tuesday night to face the Wild in Game 5 of their Western Conference clash.
The Blues evened the series with a 5-2 home win in Game 4 on Sunday, making up for a pair of one-sided losses in Games 2 and 3.
"They're a great team. They're hard to play against," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "They do a good job, and we're a good team, too, so here we are. We're tied."
The Blues can boost their chances of getting out of the first round for the first time since winning the 2019 Stanley Cup by limiting Minnesota forward Kirill Kaprizov.
He has five goals in the series, tying Wes Walz and Marian Gaborik for the most by a Minnesota player in one series. Walz and Gaborik each scored five times in a seven-game win against the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 Western Conference semifinals.
Making it more difficult to slow Kaprizov, the Blues could be down three defensemen in Game 5.
Nick Leddy missed his third consecutive game, and Robert Bortuzzo missed his second straight game, both with upper-body injuries. Marco Scandella departed less than two minutes into Game 4 with a lower-body injury, which had kept him out of Games 1 and 2.
The Blues started Game 4 with seven defensemen and 11 forwards.
To bolster the blue line, Steven Santini was recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions on Friday and was plus-1 in 3:08 of ice time.
Scott Perunovich played his first game since sustaining a wrist injury on Jan. 15 and produced an assist and blocked shot in 12:02.
Meanwhile the Wild hope to limit their penalties in Game 5.
St. Louis has scored at least one power-play goal in each of the first four games of the series, and the Blues are 5-for-18 overall with the man-advantage (27.8 percent).
"We've got to stay out of the box," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "It disrupts the flow of the game, disrupts what we want to do, what we want to get to."
The Blues likely will start Jordan Binnington in goal after he made 28 saves in Game 4, his first start of the series.
It marked the 17th playoff victory for Binnington, tying him with Mike Liut and Greg Millen for the most in team history.
The Blues hope to give Binnington an early lead. The winning team has scored first in each of the first four games of the series.
"Obviously, you want to come out hot and come out strong," St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou said. "We did that (in Game 4) and we should continue to do it all series long."
The Wild are expected to stick with veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 5. After his two stellar performances in Game 2 and 3, the Blues managed to solve Fleury on Sunday and tie up the series.
"The vibe is, it's 2-2," Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau said. "Like we said earlier, it's not going to be easy, it's the playoffs, and the Blues are a good team."
