ST. LOUIS -- The stat line doesn't look all that gaudy for Alexey Toropchenko. Except for that all-important goal. But even looking past the goal he scored, which matched his career-high 10th of the season that he tied from last season, the regular fourth-liner, turned third-liner on Saturday, the big Russian had his motor scooting in the Blues' 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Enterprise Center. Toropchenko scores in Blues' 3-1 win against Wild Toropchenko, who has 14 points in 60 games, always has his motor running, but on Saturday, he seemed to be flying at every turn and every time he touched the puck. His goal at 6:34 of the first period with a tip in front off a Scott Perunovich shot got the Blues off and running. "Right in front of the net and gets his stick on the puck," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "'Torpo', I thought he had a good game. I lost him a little bit during the game just with a lot of the power plays and I tried to make an effort to get him more involved in the third period because he's a good player for us. He plays to our identity, plays direct, he puts pucks underneath, he puts pressure on the 'D' and he uses his body well." Toropchenko played just 9:30 in the game and he had only one hit and one blocked shot, but it seemed like every time he touched the ice, he was disrupting Minnesota's flow of moving the puck. That's part of the hustle and bustle Toropchenko brought to the game and having the understanding of what these games mean these days. "Every win is important for us right now," Toropchenko said. "Doesn’t matter who we play. I love to say that all the time now. Just very exciting that we won tonight. We just need to keep going and win as many games as we can." Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyODg4NjQ1ODM1NzYwNzA4/img_6513.jpg]
