Gustavsson makes 26 saves, Wild shut out Blues in season opener

ST. LOUIS — Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves, and the Minnesota Wild opened their season with a 5-0 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

It was his 12th NHL shutout.

Advertisement

“I think we set the tone in training camp,” Gustavsson said. “We really try and focus on having quality in practices and be ready for these first couple games. That’s just the start we wanted to have and that’s why it works so good for us.”

Kirill Kaprizov had three assists for the Wild. The 28-year-old forward signed an eight-year, $136 million contract (average annual value $17 million) on Sept. 30 that will begin with the 2026-27 season.

Ryan Hartman scored twice, Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists and Marco Rossi had a goal and an assist.

“The main stress we had was getting ourselves a win in our first game for the home opener (Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets),” Hartman said. “I liked how we played. I feel good personally, legs-wise and speed-wise. Just want to keep going.”

Jordan Binnington made 16 saves in the season opener for the Blues, whose 12-game home winning streak ended dating to the end of last season.

“I think our habits, special teams, our battle level on 1-on-1 battles wasn’t at the level that we expect,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “And then I think the biggest difference was the battle at the net front. There’s a process that we believe in and a lot of those details and habits within our process cost us tonight.”

Hartman and Boldy scored 1:36 apart late in the first period. Hartman made it 1-0 at 15:54 when he tucked a backhand through Binnington after poking a puck past Dylan Holloway and avoiding Logan Mailloux’s sliding defensive effort.

Boldy made it 2-0 at 17:30 when he redirected Kaprizov’s pass off the right boards in front.

Gustavsson held the Wild’s lead when he stopped the first 14 shots of the second period before Minnesota scored its third goal.

“He was great. That’s what we expect from him,” Boldy said of Gustavsson. “I think he brings that calming presence to us. For him to step up in those big moments and on the [penalty] kill to make some big saves, it’s huge for us.”

Joel Eriksson Ek’s power-play goal on Minnesota’s first shot of the period at 12:27 of the second period made it 3-0 after a shot from the point made it to the crease for the tap-in.

“When you look at particular circumstances tonight, they had some momentum going and you take a couple penalties and you need big kills,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “If we don’t get those kills at that moment, maybe the momentum of the game changes.”

Hartman made it 4-0 at 17:36 on a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the left circle.

“I just try and shoot the puck when I can,” Hartman said. “Some are more lucky than others but just shoot the puck.”

Rossi scored at 7:27 of the third period, collecting a rebound in the slot of Kaprizov funneling a puck towards the net from the right point and scoring high on Binnington’s blocker for the 5-0 final.

“I thought through the first two [periods] we did some good things and there’s some things that we need to clean up,” St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn said. “Offensively we’ve got to get harder in front of the opposition’s goalie, that’s for sure. Defensively, got to work on closing plays a little bit faster. We did some good things tonight, but there’s a whole lot we can clean up and grow and get better.”

NOTES: Gustavsson became the first goalie in Wild history to post a shutout in two season openers (also Oct. 12, 2023). He also became the first active goalier to accomplish the feat for any franchise. … Hartman has scored nine goals in his NHL career against Binnington. … Hartman was plus-2 and won 10 of 14 face-offs in 17:52. … Minnesota forward Hunter Haight played 10:27 and won five of eight face-offs in his NHL debut.