Final Score: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 3

St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Guillaume Latendresse notched a pair of goals as Minnesota clipped St. Louis, 4-3, at Xcel Energy Center.

Shane Hnidy and Kim Johnsson also provided offense for the Wild, winners of two straight and four of six. Niklas Backstrom stopped only 15 shots but registered the win.

Patrik Berglund, Andy McDonald and David Perron scored for the Blues, who saw their three-game win streak stopped. Chris Mason allowed four goals on 20 shots in defeat.

Hnidy provided a one-goal edge for Minnesota on a shot through a screen less than 2 1/2 minutes into the third period, then Johnsson made it a 3-1 contest at 8:59 on a wicked shot under the crossbar from a 2-on-1 break.

"Hnidy can really shoot a puck and he showed real patience there. Good execution off the rush," said Wild coach Todd Richards. "When you score four on a night, you should win those games."

Perron's unintentional tip inside the crease with under seven minutes remaining brought the Blues within a goal, but Latendresse poked in a loose puck with 3:42 to play and the Wild doubled their cushion.

Berglund once again cut St. Louis' deficit to one goal with 1:40 remaining, but the visitors failed to produce a tying tally even with Mason off for an extra skater for the last 79 seconds.

Latendresse provided the lone score of the first period, on a wrister with just over five minutes left.

McDonald added the only score of the middle period, coming with under eight minutes to play.

Game Notes

Latendresse posted his first multi-goal game with the Wild and his first since March 19, 2009 while with the Montreal Canadiens...Minnesota has won three of the last four matchups with St. Louis in the Twin Cities...The Blues had won four of the last five meetings...The Wild travel to Los Angeles on Monday and the Blues host Buffalo on Sunday.