Gameday 64 (Sat, 23 Mar) - Results

Tampa Bay v Ottawa 3-5 - Tampa Bay gave the Ottawa Senators a bit of the scare in the third period, but the Senators came away with the win, beating the Lightning 5-3 on Saturday afternoon at Scotiabank Place. In the first period, Ottawa (17-9-6) scored four goals in just more than seven minutes and carried that lead until the last half of the third, when the Lightning's (13-17-1) Tyler Johnson netted two goals, followed up by a third goal from Teddy Purcell. Daniel Alfredsson had two goals, including the empty netter with 10 seconds left. Jakob Silfverberg had a goal and an assist, while Eric Gryba, Guillaume Latendresse also scored the goals for Ottawa. Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the win, while Cedrick Desjardins turned away 19 shots after relieving Mathieu Garon in the first. Ottawa came out with a flurry of offense in the first period, scoring three goals in 4:12. Silfverberg was first on the board on the Sens, when Victor Hedman's pass up the half-wall was picked off by Marc Methot. The defenseman then wristed a shot from the top of the left faceoff corner, and the puck was redirected into the Lightning net by Silfverberg at 12:49. Kyle Turris sent a drop pass 1:40 later to Gryba, who one-timed a shot from the high slot through the five-hole of Garon to make it a two-goal lead. It was Gryba's first NHL career goal. Methot picked up another assist for his second of the game. The Senators made the score 3-0 at 17:01. Latendresse's initial wrist shot was saved by Garon's left pad. The puck popped out to the right of the net as the Latendresse skated past and began to fall forward. He gained just enough control to shoot towards the net and the puck banked in off the inside of the left post. After allowing three goals in 11 shots, Garon was replaced by Desjardins in the Lightning net. But Ottawa still wasn't finished and made the score 4-0 with 9.1 seconds left in the period, on a power-play goal from Alfredsson. The captain's initial shot in the slot was blocked by Sami Salo, but he regained control and beat Desjardins through traffic for his seventh goal of the season. Sergei Gonchar also picked up an assist, and set a new franchise record with assists scored in 10 consecutive games. Alfredsson and Jason Spezza previously held the record with nine, set in the fall of 2007. Tampa Bay's best chance in the second period came with eight minutes left in the period. Ottawa was on a power play after a fight between Marc Methot and B.J. Crombeen left the Tampa forward with an instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct. Methot's clean hip check on Crombeen led to the melee. Mike Lundin gave away the puck in the Lightning zone and Dana Tyrell recovered it. He made an attempt to deke but Lehner tracked the puck and made the pad save. Tampa Bay scored three times in less than seven minutes in the second half of the final period, but Alfredsson's eighth of the season ended any doubt.

San Jose v Minnesota 0-2 - The Minnesota Wild took advantage with the power play Saturday, scoring once with the extra attacker and another as a man advantage expired, defeating the San Jose Sharks 2-0 Saturday in front of 19,358 fans at Xcel Energy Center, the second-largest crowd to watch a game here in franchise history. The victory extended the Wild's season-long winning streak to five games. Minnesota has won seven of eight overall. Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season. His biggest stop of the afternoon came just over three minutes in, when Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner hauled down Sharks forward Andrew Desjardins on a breakaway. Desjardins was awarded a penalty shot, but Backstrom steered it away with a pad save. Instead, the Wild were able to keep the Sharks scoreless and control play the rest of the way, outshooting the Sharks 10-6 through 20 minutes. Minnesota was finally able to break through midway through the second period, when Parise took a no-look feed from the point by Mikko Koivu and buried a snap shot from just off the right post for his 12th of the season. The goal was even strength but came just as Sharks forward James Sheppard stepped out of the box after serving an interference penalty. A great hustle play by Wild forward Charlie Coyle in the dying seconds of the period forced Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle to trip him as time expired, drawing a penalty and setting up Minnesota with a power play to start the third. The Wild scored 1:17 into the man advantage for a 2-0 lead. Ryan Suter passed to his left from the point to Jared Spurgeon waiting at the top of the circle. His one-timer beat Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi high to the glove side for his fourth of the season. Backstrom was tested often, including a few Grade-A chances. He made a sprawling post-to-post save on former Minnesota defenseman Brent Burns in the second period and another on a partial break by the current Sharks forward in the third to nail down his 27th career shutout. Suter assisted on each Wild goal, moving to fifth all-time among Minnesota defensemen in single-season assists with 24. Wild coach Mike Yeo was pleased with his team's ability to deal with poor ice conditions and several other distractions. The arena has been filled all weekend with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Final Five tournament, turning the typically quiet hallways around the Wild dressing room into a bustling area with media and four different teams. The Wild also were coming off an emotional three-game road trip which saw the team snap lengthy losing streaks against the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings. Minnesota, with 38 points and an 8-2-0 record in its past 10 games, has surged to the top of the Northwest Division standings and has put some breathing room between itself and San Jose, which occupies the eighth Stanley Cup Playoff spot in the Western Conference with 32 points.

Vancouver v Los Angeles 1-0 - A season-low 13 shots on goal and a weak power play are hardly a good combination against the defending Stanley Cup champions. An injury-stricken lineup usually doesn't help much, either. But Cory Schneider and the Vancouver Canucks somehow pulled out a 1-0 win Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings in an offensively stagnant matinee that sent both teams in different directions. Schneider made 20 saves and Mason Raymond scored in the first period to give the Canucks their first three-game winning streak in a month. Schneider needed to make several clutch stops for his sixth career shutout with help from a defense that was without the suspended Alexander Edler. Los Angeles was shut out for the second straight game and ended what was a stellar homestand on a 126:14 scoreless streak going into a Monday matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks. Vancouver generally stuck to a chip-and-chase game until Jordan Schroeder delivered a terrific tape-to-tape stretch pass to Raymond. He streaked down the right side, got behind Jake Muzzin and beat Jonathan Quick through the five-hole at 11:06. Vancouver put one shot on goal in the first 15 minutes of the third and four total for the final 20 minutes. Schneider did the rest. He denied Trevor Lewis' second shorthanded bid when he slid over to stop him on a 2-on-1 with Mike Richards in the second period. Dustin Penner got two whacks at the puck at the goalmouth in the third, but Schneider denied him. Schneider has stopped 145 of 151 shots in five career games against the Kings. The Kings had a different perspective on Schneider's 20-save effort. They talked about needing to get more bodies in front and the so-called "greasy" goals. Los Angeles not only squandered its first two power plays, but totaled just one shot, much to the dismay of the home crowd. It's only two games, but this has the feel of last season when L.A.'s awful scoring woes facilitated a trade for Jeff Carter. Coach Darryl Sutter doesn't have many options other than 20-year-old rookie Tyler Toffoli, and he said he's not inclined to change his lines. Overlooked was the upward trend of Quick, who has stopped 58 of 61 shots the past two games. He got his left leg down to thwart Keith Ballard late in the second period to prevent a 2-0 deficit. Vancouver could not take advantage of two needless penalties by L.A. in the third period. Williams interfered with Alexandre Burrows in Vancouver's zone and Penner boarded Christoper Tanev nearly 200 feet from his own net. The Canucks put one shot on goal those power plays and saw their slump reach 1-for-43. No one was crunching the numbers, though, on a team missing Ryan Kesler, David Booth and Zack Kassian, among others.

Boston v Toronto 2-3 - There was a palpable sense of relief in the Toronto Maple Leafs' locker room, even though they were outshot, outchanced and outplayed by Boston. That's because, for the first time since March 31, 2011, they weren't outscored by the Bruins. The Maple Leafs were outshot 33-13, but made the most of their few chances by scoring once in each period to beat Boston 3-2 on Saturday night and end their eight-game losing streak to the Bruins. The Bruins did almost everything right, they controlled play for most of the evening, but the Maple Leafs scored an early goal in each period and hung on in the final minutes after Boston cut a three-goal deficit to one. Franson had reason to be relieved, Toronto had dropped its last eight meetings with Boston, all in regulation, since a 4-3 shootout victory in their last meeting of the 2010-11 season. Red-hot Nazem Kadri, Mikhail Grabovski and Frazer McLaren scored for Toronto, with McLaren's goal 1:34 into the final period turning out to be the game-winner after defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference scored for Boston. James Reimer turned in a superb 31-save effort for the Leafs. Anton Khudobin surrendered three goals on just 11 shots before being lifted after McLaren's goal made it 3-0. Kadri, coming off consecutive three-point games, opened the scoring 4:58 into the game by going top shelf to the short side on Khudobin. Clarke MacArthur threaded a pass from just inside the blue line through Brad Marchand and Seidenberg, catching Kadri in stride at the left circle. The goal was Kadri's 14th, tying him for the team lead with James van Riemsdyk. Kadri now has a four-game point streak in which he has three goals and six assists and is now tied for eighth in League scoring with 34 points. John-Michael Liles earned the secondary assist by getting the puck up ice after a Boston turnover in the neutral zone. He left the game midway through the second period with a lower-body injury after getting his legs taken out from under him by Daniel Paille at the far boards in the Leafs zone. The injury forced coach Randy Carlyle to play with only five defenseman for the second half of the game. Carlyle said x-rays came out negative for Liles meaning that nothing was broken or torn but there was a possibility of a sprain. Grabovski took advantage of a broken play to make it 2-0 at 2:52 of the second period when he had two centering attempts blocked before firing a low shot that beat Khudobin to the far side for his eighth goal of the season. The Bruins dominated the remainder of the period, outshooting the Leafs 9-5 for a 20-9 margin after two periods. But when it came to fortunate bounces, McLaren got the biggest one of all after his backhander from the edge of the crease went into the net off the Khudobin's left pad 94 seconds into the final period for a 3-0 lead. The fluke goal prompted Bruins coach Claude Julien to pull his starting netminder and allow Tuukka Rask to finish the game. Seidenberg scored 56 seconds after McLaren to end Reimer's shutout bid. Boston came in waves for throughout the rest of the period and got within one on Ference's sixth-attacker goal with 1:16 remaining. That set up a wild flurry in the final minute, but the Bruins couldn't get another puck past Reimer. The teams complete the home-and-home series Monday night in Boston. Expect the Bruins to come out strong after their coach expressed his displeasure with his team's performance. Prior to the game, the Maple Leafs welcomed back Mats Sundin, their career leader in goals and points. He dropped the puck for a ceremonial faceoff to honor his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2012. Fans gave him a rousing ovation that was preceded by a video tribute.

Buffalo v Montreal 2-1 - Thomas Vanek scored both goals in his first game back from a hip injury and Miller made 38 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres to their third straight win and their second in a span of four days in Montreal against the Canadiens, this time by a 2-1 score Saturday. The victory pulled the Sabres (13-15-4) within two points of the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference, but Miller said he's not one to look at the standings because he knows Buffalo has a long road ahead of it to earn a spot in the dance. The Sabres defeated the Canadiens (20-6-5) in similar fashion Tuesday, getting badly outshot 34-21, but proving to be more opportunistic before winning in overtime on a Steve Ott power-play goal. The Canadiens outshot the Sabres 39-18 on Saturday and had the puck in the offensive zone for most of the night, racking up 85 shot attempts (shots on goal plus missed and blocked shots) to just 31 for Buffalo. Despite the heavy advantage in shots for the Canadiens, only Michael Ryder was able to beat Miller with a power-play goal midway through the third period, his first point at home this season after getting 10 on the road since his trade from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 26. The regulation loss was Montreal's first in eight games and just its second since Feb. 9, a span of 20 games. It was a big bounce-back game for Miller, who came into Saturday with a 3-3-2 record, 3.47 goals against average and .884 save percentage in his previous eight starts, allowing three goals or more in seven of them. The Canadiens completely dominated the first half of the game, outshooting the Sabres 19-6 at 9:48 of the second period but unable to turn significant offensive zone time into a goal. Miller made a number of big saves, including a nice pad stop on an Alex Galchenyuk tip late in the first and sliding post to post to deny Mike Blunden of a tap in early in the second. But the 9:48 mark of the second was when P.K. Subban was called for delay of game with Blunden already in the box, giving the Sabres a 5-on-3 power play and shifting the momentum of the game. Vanek converted at 10:25 when he tipped Christian Ehrhoff's slap shot from the point past Carey Price. The Canadiens had vehemently argued that Subban's clearing attempt in fact hit the glass before hitting the protective netting behind the Montreal net, but afterwards defenseman Josh Gorges said that is ultimately irrelevant to both the outcome of the game and of the failed penalty kill. The Sabres made it 2-0 with 38.3 seconds to play in the period on a pretty passing play that began with Ville Leino passing it cross ice for Tyler Ennis, who immediately sent it in front to a cutting Vanek, who deked to his backhand to beat Price at 19:21. The goal came on the Sabres' 14th shot of the game, more than doubling their total from the first 30 minutes in the second half of the second period. The Canadiens went back to controlling the play in the third, outshooting Buffalo 16-4 and finally converting at 8:17 when Andrei Markov found Ryder alone in front for a deflection over Miller's right shoulder with Marcus Foligno in the box to make it 2-1 Sabres.

Florida v New Jersey 1-2 - New Jersey's 2-1 victory against the Florida Panthers before a sellout crowd at Prudential Center on Saturday included a fairly serious injury to forward Ilya Kovalchuk, who left the game midway through the third period with an apparent right-shoulder injury. Kovalchuk appeared to hurt his right shoulder when he broke in 1-on-4 before losing his edge and barreling into the end boards behind the Panthers' net with 10:53 remaining in the third period and the Devils holding a 2-1 lead. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Russian was attempting to curl defenseman Colby Robak on the play but tumbled to the ice. Though Kovalchuk did skate off the ice and into the dressing room on his own power, he was wincing in pain and was never made available to the media afterward. Less than a minute after Kovalchuk's injury, Devils forward Tim Sestito appeared to suffer a shoulder or upper-back injury when Robak slammed him into the boards. Robak was given a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct for the hit. DeBoer said Sestito would be fine. Forward David Clarkson scored what proved to be the decisive goal 11:03 into the second period, and Brodeur, whose career record is 666-373-105-61, made it stand behind 17 saves as the Devils won their second straight game. The Panthers, who were playing the third of a five-game road swing, saw a two-game winning streak end. The goalies were sharp in the third period, when the Devils held an 11-6 advantage in shots. Florida's Scott Clemmensen came up big with his team shorthanded when Patrik Elias backhanded an attempt while splitting two defenders down the slot before retrieving his own rebound that was also turned away at 6:31. The Panthers took advantage of a poor play by Brodeur behind his own cage with 9.8 seconds remaining in the second period to pare the deficit to 2-1. While attempting to wrap the puck around the wall, Brodeur fanned, and Tomas Fleischmann picked up the puck and fed Peter Mueller cruising down the slot. Mueller easily one-timed the pass into a wide-open net, his seventh goal of the season. Brodeur was making his second start after coming off injured reserve and not playing the previous 13 games with a pinched nerve in his neck/back. The Devils opened a 1-0 lead 1:24 into the second period when Elias broke in 2-on-1 with Travis Zajac and redirected a perfectly placed feed while cutting down the slot. Panthers defenseman Filip Kuba was playing the pass on the play but failed to find the puck on Zajac's picturesque feed from the right circle. Zajac, who had two assists, has one goal and five points over the past three games for the Devils. Brodeur made a great save to keep the Devils ahead when he denied rookie Jonathan Huberdeau at 4:47 off a strong backhand attempt from the slot. Clemmensen then made a big glove save off Kovalchuk's shorthanded attempt to keep his team within reach. Clarkson gave his team a 2-0 lead midway into the second on a great individual effort in following up a rebound. Zajac took the initial shot from the right circle that hit Clemmensen high on the chest and dropped in front of him. Clarkson jammed the loose puck into the cage for his 12th goal of the season. The Panthers received a bit of a scare midway through the second period when forward Shawn Matthias exited after being hit in the face with a deflected puck. Matthias did return for the start of the third with several stitches above his left eye. Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov took a shot from the right circle that appeared to be blocked by Devils forward Ryan Carter before hitting Matthias in the face. He skated off the ice on his own power. Florida registered its first of seven unanswered shots 10:52 into the first when Drew Shore tipped in a shot Brodeur neatly denied. Brodeur's best save of the opening period came with 46.7 seconds left when he snared a slap shot from the point off the stick of Kulikov. The Devils are 12-1-2 when scoring the first goal this season. They are 3-10-4 when allowing the opening goal. The Devils were credited with two shots in the first period, both by Steve Bernier. Kovalchuk also drove a shot from the right circle that rang off the goal post at the 10:18 mark. Kulikov, who missed the previous 10 games while recovering from a dislocated shoulder sustained March 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, was in the lineup filling in for Erik Gudbranson, who is questionable to face the New York Islanders on Monday, as he is out with the flu.

Columbus v Nashville 2-5 - With a 5-2 win on Saturday over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena that ended Columbus' franchise-record 12-game points streak, the Nashville Predators won for the second time in two games and began clawing their way back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs race in the Western Conference. They remain on the outside looking in with 32 points, but sit just one point behind the Dallas Stars, currently in eighth, and evened themselves with a number of teams, including the San Jose Sharks and the Blue Jackets. The Predators, who entered the day having played more road games than any team in the NHL at 18, own one of the League's 10 worst road records at 5-11-2 road record, but have shown themselves to be a vastly different team at home, improving to 8-2-4. Saturday, they won their second in a row, with both coming at home. Rookie forward Taylor Beck, in his third NHL game, recorded the first points of his career, a goal and an assist, for the Predators. Columbus had entered the game 8-0-4 in its past 12 contests and vaulted itself from doldrums in its perennial spot in the Central Division cellar to back into the playoff race. Columbus coach Todd Richards pointed out how Nashville has been a perennial playoff team and the Blue Jackets had trouble matching the Predators' intensity level as Nashville dashed out to an early 4-1 first-period lead. In a wild first period, Nashville took a 4-1 lead into intermission, and had to kill off a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:53 to do it. All five goals occurred within a span of 3:04 in the middle of the period. Beck scored at 7:41, kicking off the flurry of action. After R.J. Umberger hit the post at the opposite end, Beck led the rush down into the Blue Jackets' zone and ripped a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot over Sergei Bobrovsky's catching glove. Nashville went up 2-0 as Shea Weber first drew a hooking call against Columbus forward Vinny Prospal at 8:11 and then scored a power-play goal, his sixth of the season. The Predators won the ensuing offensive zone faceoff and Martin Erat passed in the slot to Bobby Butler, who found Weber for a goal 10 seconds into the man advantage. Columbus answered with a power-play goal of its own at 9:29, as Umberger picked up a dump-in and then jammed it past Pekka Rinne. That goal came with Nashville's David Legwand in the penalty box for interference, and so it was Legwand who redeemed himself by netting the next goal. Beck did some good work along the boards and fed Legwand, who flipped in a wrist shot from 11 feet at 9:46. Matt Halischuk chased Bobrovsky, starting for the second time in two nights, from the game at 10:15 when he put a 38-foot wrist shot through a Columbus defenseman's legs and past Bobrovsky, who had gone 8-0-2 in his previous 10 appearances. He allowed four goals on 11 shots and was replaced by Steve Mason. Despite digging such a deep hole, the Blue Jackets had a chance to get back in the game when Rich Clune received a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct for a hit on the Blue Jackets' Artem Anisimov in the Predators' zone that drew blood. According to Rule 56.4, the referee can assess an interference major "based on the degree of violence." Under Rule 56.5, a game misconduct follows when a major is assessed and the foul results in an injury. Clune also could be subject to supplementary discipline under Rule 48 for an illegal check to the head. Anisimov returned to play and scored a goal in the second period. During the Blue Jackets' major power play, Mike Fisher had a partial shorthanded breakaway. Mason stopped him and Fisher's momentum carried him into Mason, which resulted in a goaltender interference penalty. Columbus then went on a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:53, but Nashville was helped in part by the return of penalty-killing specialist Hal Gill. Playing his first game in 13 after coming off a lower-body injury, the Predators killed all of the penalties. Gill played a team-high 4:09 shorthanded in the period and 7:16 overall. Not bad for a player who has averaged 12:43 this season per game. Columbus cut the lead to 4-2 with 5:07 left in the second period, when Anisimov wheeled from the left circle and his shot deflected off Fisher's stick over Rinne's shoulder. Roman Josi added an empty-net, power-play goal with 23.1 seconds left in regulation.

Colorado v Dallas 2-5 - The Dallas Stars started their season-long five-game homestand by exacting a little revenge. The Stars blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads in Denver on Wednesday in a 4-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Three days later, they put together a full 60-minute effort as they rolled over the Avalanche 5-2 before 17,311 at American Airlines Center. Dallas, now 7-6-2 at home, also got goals from Derek Roy, Jordie Benn, Eric Nystrom and Jaromir Jagr. Jamie Benn had three assists while Jagr, Nystrom and Roy each contributed a goal and an assist for the Stars. Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 shots in his 11th straight start. Colorado, now 2-10-3 on the road and 0-6-3 in its last nine away from Pepsi Center, got goals from PA Parenteau and Paul Stastny. The Avalanche last won away from home on Feb. 14, beating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in a shootout. Colorado was without its captain, Gabriel Landeskog, who was a late scratch with a torso injury. Roy gave the Stars the great start they sorely needed on home ice, beating Semyon Varlamov top shelf with a wrist shot just 34 seconds into the game. Roy intercepted a pass by Colorado's David Jones in front of the Dallas net, fed Loui Eriksson and took a return pass before beating Varlamov from the edge of the left circle for his fourth goal of the . The Stars made it 2-0 at 9:57 when Jordie Benn scored his first NHL goal. With Dallas on the power play, Benn backhanded the rebound of Roy's shot from the left side past Varlamov. The Stars came into the game in a 1-for-22 slump with the extra man. Instead of taking their foot off the gas, the Stars blew the game open with a pair of goals early in the second period. Nystrom tapped in a rebound 58 seconds in after Varlamov stopped Jamie Benn's initial shot. Jagr picked up the secondary assist, giving him 999 helpers for his career. Eakin ended Varlamov's night at 4:37 when he fired a 15-foot wrister from the slot into the net for his fifth of the season. Jean-Sebastien Giguere relieved Varlamov, and the Avalanche picked up their play. They cut the margin to 4-1 with 54 seconds left in the season when Parenteau buried a slap shot for a power-play goal, ending Lehtonen's scoreless streak at 102:35. Colorado made it 4-2 at 1:37 of the third period when Stastny beat Lehtonen to the short side with a wrister from the left circle. John Mitchell gained possession of the puck near center ice and fed Stastny, who rushed up the left side before burying his eighth of the season on Lehtonen's stick side. But Jagr put the game away at 6:44, scoring on a wraparound from the far side of the net that deflected off the skate of Avalanche defenseman Stefan Elliott and through the five-hole of Giguere for his team-leading 13th goal of the season. Jagr had collected the puck from behind the net after Jamie Benn had sent the puck around the boards, then skated around the Colorado net almost untouched.

St Louis v Edmonton 3-0 - A couple of weeks off appear to have done St. Louis Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak a world of good. Halak entered Saturday's game against the host Edmonton Oilers not having played in 13 days, and having allowed 15 goals while going 1-3-0 in his last four decisions. But with a little help from his teammates, who limited the Oilers to just 19 shots, Halak earned his third shutout of the season with a 3-0 victory at Rexall Place. Halak's 16th shutout with St. Louis tied the franchise record set by Glenn Hall in the early years of the franchise. Halak needed just 115 games; Hall got his in 140 games. Halak hadn't played since Feb. 10; rookie Jake Allen has usurped a lot of the playing time. He said it took a while to shake off the rust. Chris Stewart, Alexander Steen and T.J. Oshie scored as the Blues rebounded from a 3-2 loss at Vancouver on Tuesday to improve to 17-11-2 and move into fifth place in the Western Conference. They've won five in a row against Edmonton and are 11-1-1 in the last 13. This one was the kind of 60-minute effort the Blues had in abundance last season, but have struggled to produce this season. Edmonton fell to 11-12-7 and remained 13th in the Western Conference. The Oilers saw their five-game points streak end despite 22 saves by Nikolai Khabibulin. Stewart opened the scoring just 3:20 after the opening faceoff when he fired from the top of the left circle and beat Khabibulin for his 15th goal of the season and sixth in five games. Stewart's 15 goals in 30 games this season match his total in 79 games in 2011-12. Aside from Stewart's goal, chances were few and far between in the opening period, in which the Blues outshot the Oilers 6-4. After a scoreless second period, Steen made it 2-0 at 2:55 of the third by picking up the carom of his own blast from the left wing off the end boards and rifling a shot past Khabibulin, who had overcommitted on the original shot. It was his sixth of the season. The Blues nearly made it a three-goal game less than a minute later when Andy McDonald fired from the right side and beat Khabibulin but rang a shot off the crossbar. Halak had to be strong just after the five-minute mark of the third period to deny Ryan Smyth's wraparound try at his left post. He barely got his pad down and was able to keep the puck out of the net during a pileup before the whistle finally blew. It was one of the few times that the Oilers were able to generate a solid forecheck. Oshie capped the scoring at 11:09 with his first goal in 12 games. He cut to the net and was left all alone to take McDonald's pass and go forehand-backhand to beat Khabibulin. The game was a cold dose of reality for the Oilers, who travel to face the Nashville Predators on Monday and visit St. Louis on Tuesday after the Blues visit the Calgary Flames on Sunday.