5 things we learned from Wild's season-opening win

On his second goal, Hartman stayed active and found a dangerous spot low in the St. Louis zone, giving the Wild their second goal on just their fourth shot of the period.

"Thought he was good in the faceoff circles. He had the two goals, but his puck decisions and his puck play was on point. The competitive nature he plays with was very good. I liked tonight. I thought he played hard, and I thought he played smart with and without the puck," said Hynes.

Faceoffs notably better

Speaking of faceoffs, the Wild brought in faceoff specialist Nico Sturm in the offseason to shore up an area they have struggled with over the past couple of seasons. However, Sturm will miss the first several weeks of the season with an injury. In his place, Hartman stepped up on Thursday night, winning 10 of 14 faceoffs against the Blues.

"It's going to be really important. I think that's what we need from him," said Hynes of Hartman's faceoffs. "He is a good faceoff guy when he digs in, and he's got a lot of purpose in the circle. He was good there tonight."

Overall, the Wild won 53% of the faceoffs on Thursday, none bigger than the one Joel Eriksson Ek won on Minnesota's first power play of the second period. Ek won the initial faceoff to start the power play and seconds later was tapping in a rebound to extend Minnesota's lead to three, on just the second shot of the second period.

Large chunks of the opener were sloppy

It wasn't all positive, as is expected with a season opener. Minnesota, for large chunks of the first and second period, looked sloppy. The Blues were the more physical team on the night, which seemed to wear on the Wild in the later portions of the first period, when Minnesota was giving away sloppy turnovers in its own area.

The Wild may have scored twice in the second period, but they couldn't find a way to get on the puck or get a shot off for the majority of the period. St. Louis fired off the first 14 shots in the second, and got two power plays, before Minnesota got a little bit of a spark from offense.

Overall, it was the strong play of Gustavsson that kept the Wild in the game.

Boldy starts the season on a high note

Matt Boldy was one of the team's best players last season, leading the Wild with 73 points, 27 goals and 46 assists. Since returning from the Four Nations Faceoff, Boldy has been on a run, scoring 25 points, 7 goals and 18 assists, in the 26 games following the midseason international tournament. On Thursday night, Boldy continued that hot streak, scoring the second goal of the game and assisting on the third and fifth goals to help lift the Wild to a season-opening win.