ST. LOUIS – The 0 was staring up at center David Backes from the stat sheet. Ten games into the season, the captain of the St. Louis Blues had yet to score a goal.

He changed that early in Saturday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild, scoring just 2:47 into the game - but it was what he did later in the game that got the Blues another win.

Backes’ second goal of the game, and the season, with 34 seconds left in overtime gave the Blues a 3-2 win and an important division victory.

With their leading scorer, right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, added to the long list of injured players, the Blues were still able to improve to 8-2-1 on the season and 4-0-1 at home.

That is the number which is more important to Backes, who had never gone more than six games into the start of a season without scoring a goal in his nine years in the NHL.

“We’re concerned about the W (win) column more than the G (goal) column,” Backes said. “We’re 8-2-1 now and that’s what matters. We’ve battled a lot of adversity and have a tough schedule still coming up. We like this, it’s a good two points but we’ve got to put it behind us.”

The game started out as if it was going to be easy for the Blues, who jumped to a 2-0 lead just 8:40 into the game on the goals by Backes and left wing Alexander Steen. It was the first time this season the Blues had scored twice in the opening period.

The lead didn’t last, however, as the Wild came back on goals by left wing Jason Zucker and center Erik Haula, whose goal came with only 42 seconds left in the period, to tie the game.

Neither team could break through against goalies Jake Allen and Devan Dubnyk until the final minute of overtime.

“It was two-on-two and I was late joining the rush,” Backes said. “(Defenseman Jay) Bouwmeester took everyone back and (right wing Ty) Rattie found me late and it was just ‘close your eyes and shoot’ and it found the back of the net.”

It was the first three-on-three overtime win for the Blues, who earlier had lost an overtime game to the Islanders.

“It's kind of back and forth hockey and that's what it was again tonight,” said Wild center Mikko Koivu. “It’s kind of a different game when it's three on three but the same thing you’ve got to be prepared for everything I guess. If you get the puck it's fun but if you don't you're just chasing.”

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock has seen enough of the three-on-three overtimes to form some opinions which could make a difference as the season continues.

“We’ve had two of them and now we need to talk to the players because there is an obvious strategy that works,” Hitchcock said. “We need to have a more defined game plan because it’s absolute chaos. You don't know what is going to go on. I think if we have a good strategy we can control it and be a lot more effective.

“It’s fun for the fans but as coaches we might as just well leave the benches because we have no idea what’s going on.”

The loss was the second in overtime for the Wild.

"I'm not pleased that we're 0-and-2, said Wild coach Mike Yeo. “Not pleased with that so I think personnel-wise we have to figure it out. There's a couple guys on the bench that didn't get on. We had one long shift but there's a couple of guys I would have liked to have got on there and so we have to experiment with this a little more but we, like I said, we can't be too content and just OK saying that it's new. We have to find a way to win those games too.”

For Backes, just seeing the Blues win another game without all of the key players absent from their lineup made it a good night.

“We’ve got some qualified guys stepping in and making plays,” Backes said. “With all the guys who are out we may not be as apt to win a 5-4 game as we are 2-1, 1-0, 3-2. We’ve found success as a team and we’re happy with that. Team-first hockey and we move on and corral two points.”

NOTES: The Blues said it was a "precautionary" decision to keep RW Vladimir Tarasenko out of Saturday night's game. He injured his left leg on a hard check in the second period Thursday night against Anaheim but did return for the third period. ... D Kevin Shattenkirk (groin) also was scratched again by the Blues. He hasn't played since Oct. 13, the third game of the season. ... The Wild recalled C Jordan Schroeder from Iowa of the American Hockey League after RW Justin Fontaine suffered a knee injury in Friday night's game in Chicago. Fontaine's status was said to be week-to-week by the Wild. ... The Blues will conclude a five-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings. ... The Wild are off until Thursday night, when they will host Nashville.