David Backes Carries St. Louis Blues to 3-2 Overtime Win Over Minnesota Wild

Once again, the injuries kept piling up for the St. Louis Blues. Already without Patrik Berglund, Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz, and Kevin Shattenkirk, another one joined the list for Saturday night’s match up against the Minnesota Wild. They happened to be without their most valuable player, Vladimir Tarasenko, although it was for a precautionary measure and doesn’t seem to be too serious.

With that said, the Blues had the same mindset in store for Saturday’s game as they have had for the early part of this season. The injuries served as no excuses. While the Blues dealt with injuries, the Wild were playing the second game of back-to-back nights after their 5-4 win over Chicago on Friday. That was something the Blues had the opportunity to take advantage of, and they were able to.

The Blues drew first blood to take an early 1-0 lead in the first period as David Backes scored his first goal of the season. Alexander Steen added another, scoring his fifth goal of the season to give the Blues a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Though the Wild would answer back to tie it up at 2 to end the first period with goals coming from Jason Zucker and Erik Haula. All of a sudden, a strong, fast start for the Blues turned into a sloppy and unsettling finish to the first period.

There was no scoring in the second and third periods, which meant the Blues would be playing their second 3-on-3 overtime game of the season. The Blues had lost their first overtime game of the season 3-2 against the New York Islanders last Saturday.

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This Saturday was different. The captain came through again. David Backes delivered the game-winning goal in overtime on a great assist from Ty Rattie. The Blues won 3-2 and have won three in a row, improving to 3-0-1 so far on this home stand. The Blues’ goaltending has been dominant, especially recently: Jake Allen has won three straight games in his three consecutive starts, while Brian Elliott still doesn’t have a regulation loss this season at 4-0-1.

Despite all the injuries to start this season, the Blues have shown their resiliency and finished the month of October with a record of 8-2-1, keeping pace in the Central Division, which happens to be the toughest division in the NHL.

Up next, the Blues will wrap-up their five-game home stand Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on the NBC Sports Network.

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