When the hats began to rain down on the Scottrade Center ice, St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko was humbled. But little did Tarasenko know that those souvenirs belonged to him after his third regular-season hat trick helped defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4. Blues fans were chanting Tarasenko's name after a four-point night helped St. Louis (14-7-3) improve to 11-1-2 at home. Kevin Shattenkirk had two goals and two assists for the second four-point game of his career, Alexander Steen had three assists upon his return after missing six games with an upper-body injury and Robby Fabbri had two assists for the Blues, who have scored a point in 11 straight games at Scottrade Center (9-0-2) for the first time since going 9-0-2 from Jan. 12-Feb. 19, 2012.
Jake Allen made 22 saves to win his seventh straight. The Lightning (13-11-1), who lost their fourth in a row and fifth in six games, got two goals from Cedric Paquette. Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov also scored. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 12 saves before being pulled in the second after allowing four goals. Ben Bishop replaced him and made nine saves. Tarasenko gave the Blues the lead 1:39 into the game with his 11th goal, then made it 2-0 on the first of three power-play goals on a one-time shot from the right circle at 9:37. Paquette got the Lightning within 2-1 at 10:39, but Shattenkirk made it 3-1 with a wrist shot off Paquette's skate at 13:17. Shattenkirk scored the Blues' third power-play goal on a slap shot from the high slot at 1:44 of the second period that chased Vasilevskiy. Johnson scored for Tampa Bay at 14:25 to make it 4-2, and Kucherov's power-play goal 1:41 into the third cut the Blues' lead to 4-3.
Tarasenko's third goal and fourth point came at 8:11 against Bishop to give the Blues a 5-3 lead, but Paquette's second of the game at 11:56 made it 5-4.
Tampa Bay couldn't score the equalizer despite outshooting St. Louis 12-6 in the third.
* Tarasenko's third goal was his most difficult, but the most impressive. The way he settled the puck and got a shot off after Fabbri's tough pass. But Tarasenko kicked it to himself and quickly snapped a shot off the left post, off Bishop's skate and in.
"(Do) I get (them) after," Tarasenko said when asked what he would do with all those hats. "I don't know. I just want to say thanks to [the] fans for [their] support. It was really a good feeling."
"I thought we played better today," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, whose team has won seven of eight. "The score wasn't indicative of the play, but the score was indicative at the end of the way we were paying. ... We just take the two points and probably move on, but it's not going to be comfortable in a couple weeks."
"[Tarasenko's] the best player I've ever played with, hands down." Kevin Shattenkirk
Tarasenko's third goal and fourth point came at 8:11 against Bishop to give the Blues a 5-3 lead, but Paquette's second of the game at 11:56 made it 5-4.
Tampa Bay couldn't score the equalizer despite outshooting St. Louis 12-6 in the third.
* Tarasenko's third goal was his most difficult, but the most impressive. The way he settled the puck and got a shot off after Fabbri's tough pass. But Tarasenko kicked it to himself and quickly snapped a shot off the left post, off Bishop's skate and in.
* Vasilevskiy kept Blues right wing David Perron from extending his career-best eight-game point streak 6:31 into the second off a 2-on-1 with Jaden Schwartz.
* Tarasenko's one-timer from the right circle on his second goal after Steen's fake gave him the whole net to shoot at.
* Lightning center Brian Boyle stood in front of Allen and set the perfect screen on Kucherov's power-play goal in the third.
* Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman returned after missing nine games with an upper-body injury and made Slater Koekkoek a healthy scratch. … Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson (upper body) missed his 11th straight game. … Tarasenko has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in the past 13 games, getting points in 11 of them.
"I thought we played better today," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, whose team has won seven of eight. "The score wasn't indicative of the play, but the score was indicative at the end of the way we were paying. ... We just take the two points and probably move on, but it's not going to be comfortable in a couple weeks."
"[Tarasenko's] the best player I've ever played with, hands down." Kevin Shattenkirk
Jets @ Blues 3-2 OT - Saturday, December 03, 2016
Bryan Little scored 17 seconds into overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center. Little centered a line with Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers because their regular center, Mark Scheifele, was scratched with a lower-body injury. Little's goal came from a sharp angle after getting a cross-crease feed from Laine. Laine and Little each had a goal and an assist, and Chris Thorburn scored for the Jets (12-13-2), who had been outscored 23-8 losing their past six road games. Michael Hutchinson made 20 saves. Alexander Steen and Dmitrij Jaskin scored for the Blues (14-7-4), who earned a point for the 12th straight home game (9-0-3) but had a six-game home winning streak end. Carter Hutton made 20 saves. The Blues failed to score at least three goals for a 10th straight game. The Jets took a 1-0 lead on Thorburn's shorthanded goal at 12:27 of the first period, which came off a 3-on-1 after Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko whiffed on a wrist shot from the right circle. The Blues scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Steen's 200th NHL goal was at 5:16, and Jaskin's first of the season came 2:10 later. Laine tied the game 2-2 at 9:18 of the second, and his 16th goal tied Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead.
* Laine's goal was building from three-quarters of the ice. He perfected a give-and-go with Little, who split Blues defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk and Carl Gunnarsson before beating Hutton between the pads.
* Hutton stopped a rebound attempt by Alexander Burmistrov with 11:54 remaining in the first period, after a left-pad save on Ben Chiarot. Hutton's quick reflex prevented Burmistrov from knocking in the rebound.
* When Jaskin got the puck a second time in the Jets zone, he had it on his stick for eight seconds and capped it with a spin and a slap shot to put the Blues ahead.
* The Jets penalty kill was on its toes and ready to move quickly up ice after Tarasenko whiffed. Blake Wheeler's saucer pass was placed perfectly in stride for Thorburn to score.
* Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. Hitchcock said he's day to day. … Scheifele reportedly was injured Thursday in the second period of a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Blues Quotes
"I don't know if we thought the opponent was something different than what they were. We certainly didn't want to play the way we have or the way we're supposed to. We played slow, east-west, not skating."I think we looked like a distracted team again. We looked like a team that's won a lot of hockey games and wanted things to be a little bit easier, and you get that sometimes. ... I think we were fortunate to get a point, so we'll take the point and move on." Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.
"It's been a while. I would be happier if we won, but it's still nice." Blues left wing Dmitrij Jaskin on his first regular-season goal in 35 games
"I didn't think we were going to get beat backdoor. It looked like a 1-on-1 to me. ... Obviously it's frustrating. If I know he's going to get beat, it's just one of those things." Blues goalie Carter Hutton on the game-winning goal
Jets Quotes
"I knew I was going to have to talk to both of those guys (Laine and Ehlers) lots, and we communicated well, and I thought when we did have the [puck] we were creating a lot of chances and we took advantage of that. All I had to do was put it in the empty net there." Little said."I don't know where the two Blues guys were. That was a good find from [Dustin Byfuglien] and that was a 2-on-1. I saw Little going backdoor and I just wanted to pass it to him and it was an awesome finish." Laine said.
"We played so hard with Mark coming out today and Blake going in the middle, but we got effort and zone time, and the penalty kill was outstanding. For the most part, there is not much I can complain about in that game." Paul Maurice
"We dug our heels in, did what we had to do, the penalty kill was strong (4-for-4). That was the recipe tonight." Blake Wheeler
St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was searching for whatever line combinations would work against the Montreal Canadiens before it was too late.
The Blues had nothing going down 2-0 in the third period but then Hitchcock put forwards Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny together and it gave St. Louis a spark. Schwartz scored twice, including the game-winning goal with 1:22 left in overtime to give the Blues a 3-2 victory against the Canadiens at Scottrade Center. Schwartz took a pass from Alexander Steen and beat Al Montoya high glove side to give the Blues (15-7-4) their third win of the season (3-5-1) when trailing after two periods. Schwartz had three points and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for St. Louis. Jake Allen made 28 saves and is 8-0-0 in his past eight starts; he's 10-0-2 at home this season. The Blues have points in 13 straight home games (10-0-3) and are 12-1-3 at Scottrade Center. Tomas Plekanec and Paul Byron each had a goal and an assist, and Montoya made 28 saves for the Canadiens (17-6-3), who finished a five-game road trip 2-2-1. Montreal is 4-5-2 in its past 11 after starting 13-1-1. The Blues ended Montoya's shutout 7:40 into the third when Stastny scored on a shot from the left circle short side to make it 2-1. Schwartz tied it at 10:31. Jay Bouwmeester's shot from the left point was loose and Schwartz scored on the rebound after Stastny's backhand attempt. Allen was unable to handle Plekanec's shot from the left circle. Byron got a piece of it and the puck caromed off defenseman Carl Gunnarsson's skate and between Allen's pads to give Montreal a 1-0 lead at 10:06 of the first period. The Blues failed to convert on three power plays in the first. Plekanec scored his first in 14 games after receiving a saucer pass from Byron in the slot and beating Allen with a backhand shot high glove side with 2:18 remaining in the second for a 2-0 lead.
* Allen made a quick left-pad save on Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty's redirection off a Plekanec pass with 1:18 remaining in regulation.
* Plekanec and Byron broke out of their zone on a 2-on-1. Byron's slick saucer pass to Plekanec set up a backhand shot past Allen.
* Schwartz may have scored the game-winning goal, but Steen did most of the work, first winning the puck from Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw behind the Blues net and then threading a pass in stride to Schwartz going in on goal through three Canadiens.
* Canadiens center David Desharnais left the game in the third period because of a lower-body injury and did not return. Montreal learned Monday that center Alex Galchenyuk is out indefinitely because of a lower-body injury. ... Schwartz has seven goals and five assists in his past 10 games.
"That's a good win for us, especially against the No. 1 team in the League. It's good momentum to go on this road trip." Jake Allen
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