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But goals had been hard to come by lately — until Saturday night.

He scored his fifth career hat trick to lead the Blues past the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in St. Paul, Minn. That gave the Blues a 3-2-1 mark for their difficult stretch of six straight road games.

“We’ve been playing consistently well since the 4 Nations break,� Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We continue to develop confidence and continue to win games in different fashions.�

The Blues finally return home to face the Anaheim Ducks at 7 p.m. Sunday at Enterprise Center. The game time was moved back two hours from 5 p.m. when travel issues delayed the Blues’ return home.

Kyrou hadn’t scored a goal in seven games. He had scored just one goal in his last 13 games, dating to Feb. 4.

“It wasn’t going in for him recently,� Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “But it’s nice for him to get chances tonight and get the bounces. Obviously, a great individual effort on the second goal.�

Kyrou broke the slump by scoring in different ways. First, he connected with an opportunistic goal, swooping to convert a rebound after Schenn’s attempted cross-crease pass to Dylan Holloway didn’t get through.

“I think we were going to the hard areas tonight,� Kyrou said. “We scored two goals right in front of the net, that’s how we want to play. We’re playing back to our identity tonight.

“Our identity is getting pucks in, playing with the puck, getting to the net. That’s what we did tonight.�

Then Kyrou used good judgment and his excellent speed to score the second goal. Rather than stickhandle into traffic, he chipped the puck up the right wall, then raced ahead to claim it, circled around the back of the net and tucked the puck inside the left post before Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson could recover.

With Gustavsson off the ice for an extra attacker at the end of the game, Montgomery reunited Kyrou with Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich to give him his best shot at completing the hat trick.

That strategy worked. Kyrou got his reward.

“The way he scored his first two goals, it talks about the maturity in his game,� Montgomery said. “How hard he went to the net off a faceoff play to bang home a rebound, and then to put the puck in behind and go get it, like on a self-chip on the forecheck.

“And then he makes a talented play when he has time and space down low. Not a lot of people can make that play where they freeze the goalie and then go wrap it on the far post.�

Kyrou more than atoned for a mishap that led to the only Wild goal. Ever-aggressive goaltender Joel Hofer went behind the net to stop the puck, then he stickhandled to beat the forecheck and fire a pass up the middle of the ice to Kyrou.

When Kyrou’s attempted touch pass went awry, Wild defenseman Jake Middleton scored into the empty net before Hofer could return to his crease.

“It was actually a really good play by (Hofer), we just didn’t execute after that,� Montgomery said.

That was the only major hiccup for the Blues, who controlled most of the game while winning for the first time in four tries against Minnesota this season.

This was a nice rebound from their 5-3 loss to the Penguins on Thursday night. The Blues won 60.8 percent of the faceoffs and outshot the Wild 27-18

“We felt we placed decent in Pittsburgh, but not well enough and not to our standard,� said Blues winger Jake Neighbours, who scored Saturday on a rebound conversion. “Obviously it was an important one tonight against a really good team at a home and a really good team in general. Really happy with the way the guys played, one of our most complete efforts all year.�

Schenn set the tone by scoring 4:17 into the game. He drove to the net, deflected a Cam Fowler point shot and then banged in the rebound.

“That’s our captain, getting inside, scoring a greasy one for us,� Neighbours said.

“The first goal by our captain . . . I mean, that says it all, right?� Montgomery said.

“Last game against Pittsburgh we didn’t feel we had enough desperation. We thought our desperation was on the uptick and it’s going to need to continue that way.�

Blues 5, Wild 1

St. Louis 1 2 2 — 5

Minnesota 0 1 0 — 1

First Period—1, St. Louis, Schenn 15 (Toropchenko, Fowler), 4:17. ±Ê±ð²Ô²¹±ô³Ù¾±±ð²õ—Minnesota bench, served by Zuccarello (Too Many Men on the Ice), 10:59.

Second Period—2, St. Louis, Neighbours 17 (Thomas, Buchnevich), 10:51. 3, St. Louis, Kyrou 25 (Schenn, Fowler), 12:22. 4, Minnesota, Middleton 8, 12:47. ±Ê±ð²Ô²¹±ô³Ù¾±±ð²õ—Foligno, MIN (Holding), 15:35; Thomas, STL (Hooking), 18:54.

Third Period—5, St. Louis, Kyrou 26 (Faulk, Holloway), 11:30. 6, St. Louis, Kyrou 27 (Buchnevich, Thomas), 17:40 (en). ±Ê±ð²Ô²¹±ô³Ù¾±±ð²õ—None.

Shots on Goal—St. Louis 8-7-12—27. Minnesota 6-7-6—19.

Power-play opportunities—St. Louis 0 of 2; Minnesota 0 of 1.

³Ò´Ç²¹±ô¾±±ð²õ—St. Louis, Hofer 12-7-3 (19 shots-18 saves). Minnesota, Gustavsson 25-15-4 (26-22).

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