Wild silence Blues

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Two nights after getting embarrassed, Minnesota got back to its kind of hockey with strong defense and an opportunistic offense.

Niklas Backstrom made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season, and the Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 4-0 on Wednesday.

Andrew Brunette and Marek Zidlicky scored power-play goals to help Minnesota take the Northwest Division lead with its third victory in four games. Brunette's goal was his 200th in the NHL.

Eric Belanger added his 100th NHL goal, and Antti Miettinen was credited with an empty-net goal.

St. Louis was shut out for the third time this season. The Blues have lost three of their last four games.

"I think it's back to old school hockey, where you tighten up defensively and wait for the other team to make a mistake, then capitalize on it," right wind David Backes said. "They definitely capitalized. We had a few chances where we don't bury the puck, and Backstrom definitely made a few great saves tonight."

Belanger opened the scoring midway through the second period. He took a pass from Pierre-Marc Bouchard, fought off Alex Steen and lifted a backhander over goalie Chris Mason's left shoulder.

Belanger has three goals and three assists in his last five games, and Bouchard has three goals and three assists in his past three games after managing only a goal and an assist in his previous 15 games.

The goal came 4 minutes after Backstrom slid across the crease to stop Brad Boyes after a cross-ice feed from Patrik Berglund during a 2-on-1.

Brunette and Zidlicky scored power-play goals early in the third period for Minnesota. The Wild have 10 power-play goals in their last three games.

St. Louis coach Andy Murray said the Wild were more assertive in the final period.

"When you play in your own zone, you have a tendency to take some penalties, and that's what we did," Murray said. "You've got to make the other team take some by playing in their zone, and we weren't determined enough."