ST. LOUIS — What looked like a leisurely stroll down victory lane Tuesday at Enterprise Center turned into another frantic finish for the Blues.
After cruising to a 3-0 lead, Philadelphia rallied to make it a 3-2 contest before Alexey Toropchenko's empty-netter from just inside the blue line with 31.9 seconds left made it a 4-2 final.
The Blues got goals from Jordan Kyrou, Tyler Pitlick and Justin Faulk as they improved to 36-35-7 for the season. The Flyers fell to 29-35-13.
The Blues were playing once again without their second- and third-leading scorers in Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas. Both took part in the morning skate, and coach Craig Berube said Thomas would be a game-time decision. But Thomas was not out for the pregame warmup, and like Buchnevich, missed his fourth straight game.
Binnington, who shut out the Flyers 3-0 in his very first NHL start back on Jan. 7, 2019, had another 3-0 lead early in the third period. But lost his shutout bid when James van Riemsdyk deflected in a shot from the left point by Nick Seeler for his 11th goal of the season. That came with 14:09 left in the game.
Less than two minutes earlier a Flyers goal was disallowed when it was ruled and then confirmed via review that Noah Cates batted in a puck with his hand.
The Flyers kept the pressure on and eventually it paid off when Morgan Frost lifted a puck above Binnington during a net-front scramble to make it a 3-2 game with 8:17 left to play.
Fourth line perking
The Blues’ fourth line of Alexey Toropchenko-Nathan Walker-Pitlick has been scrappy and productive lately. When Pitlick’s goal at the 5:04 mark of the second period gave St. Louis a 2-0 lead, it made it three goals in the past five games for the line.
Walker got the play started, breaking out of the Blues’ defensive zone and passing to Toropchenko at center ice. Toropchenko sent a backhand to Pitlick streaking down right wing and the veteran forward whistled one past Flyers rookie goalie Samuel Ersson — a 23-year-old from Falun, Sweden, making his 10th NHL start.
It was the sixth goal of the season for Pitlick, who as a member of the Blues is playing for his seventh team in nine seasons.
Less than 3 1/2 minutes later, Faulk scored his 11th goal of the season to make it a 3-0 for the Blues. He came trailing down in the slot, received a pass from Sammy Blais, and buried it. Blais played in his 200th NHL game Tuesday.
Later in the period, it looked like Blais had made it a 4-0 game on a tap-in goal off a feed from Logan Brown. But Philadelphia challenged the play for offside and a review nullified the goal to keep the score at 3-0.
Kyrou stays hot
Kyrou just might get to 40 goals before all is said and done. Trailing down the slot less than six minutes into the opening period, Kyrou intercepted an errant Flyers pass towards the middle and hammered home his 37th goal of the season to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. That was his third goal in two games, and dating back to March 11, his 11th goal in 14 games.
