The St. Louis Blues scored four goals in the second period on the way to a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night.
The Blues went ahead halfway through the first when Robert Thomas grabbed the puck on the right side and fired a shot in off Stuart Skinner’s mask. The Oilers pulled even on a power play when Connor McDavid set up Leon Draisaitl for his patented off-wing one-timer.
Jordan Binnington came up with two amazing saves on another Oilers power play later in the first. He used his glove to snare a close range shot from Zach Hyman. Then he shot out his left pad to deny a backhand try by Hyman. In the final minute of the period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins banged in a rebound to make it 2-1 Oilers after one.
Former Edmonton Oil King Jake Neighbours pulled the Blues even 1:09 into the second. Neighbours would later play set up man on Torey Krug’s second of the season. On a power play later in the period, Neighbours earned another assist when Jordan Kyrou cashed in his rebound. In the final minute of the second, Pavel Buchnevich scored on a power play to make it 5-2 Blues.
Corey Perry scored his first goal an on Oiler in the third. Connor Brown nearly found his first of the season but his backhand dinged off the crossbar with just under six minutes to go. Brandon Saad scored an empty netter.
The Blues were 2/8 on the power play while the Oilers were 1/3.
“Obviously we’re very frustrated with the calls that went against us,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “It puts us in a difficult position to win the game, especially when you’re behind. We’re needing goals and here we’re spending time killing penalties. As a team we have to put it aside, no matter how much we disagree with the call. There’s been a lot of calls that our team has disagreed with, but we just have to put aside and play hockey.”
Nugent-Hopkins played his 851st game, tying him with Mark Messier for the third most ever as an Oiler.
The Oilers, 31-18-1, will visit the Dallas Stars on Saturday (630 CHED, Face-off Show 11:30 a.m., game at 1 p.m.).
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