Wild's Late Comeback Not Enough to Beat Blues in Winter Classic

The Minnesota Wild had a late-game attack, scoring two goals to tighten the action up, but the St. Louis Blues ultimately won the game 6-4 thanks to a five-goal second period.

There's something special about playing hockey outdoors under the lights.

The Minnesota Wild had a late-game attack, scoring two goals to tighten the action up, but the St. Louis Blues ultimately won the 2022 Winter Classic 6-4 thanks to a five-goal second period at Target Field in Minnesota.

Jordan Kyrou led the way offensively for the Blues, recording two goals and two assists to the highest point total by any player in an NHL outdoor game. David Perron scored the game's first goal at 14:29, with Kirill Kaprizov answering back under 30 seconds later. 

But that's when the Kyrou show began to kick off: he scored just 27 seconds into the second stanza before assisting on goals from Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Barbashev at 8:55 and 14:46, respectively. Kyrou then got his second of the game and 12th of the season at 17:58 before Rem Pitclick and Torey Krug scored for Minnesota and St. Louis, respectively, to make it 6-2 after 40 minutes. The Wild got hungry, and Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala both scored in the third to make it close. The Wild pulled goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen with over five minutes to go to try and force a late tie, but the damage was already done.

With the win, the Blues move to 2-0 in all-time wins outdoors after beating Chicago 4-1 back in 2017. The Wild previously beat the Blackhawks 6-1 in 2016. playing in absolutely freezing temperatures, too. At -6F and -21C, the game marks the oldest outdoor game in NHL history, beating the 0F/-18C temperatures from the first Heritage Classic between Montreal and Edmonton in 2003.