TORONTO — Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko have combined for more than 500 goals and more than 1,200 points over their distinguished NHL careers. This season, they represent two of the four Blues’ players who have scored at least 10 goals this season.
That’s a significant chunk of firepower to be missing for a team struggling just to tread water. But it didn’t matter Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena.
A thinned-out lineup featuring two players just called up from Springfield of the AHL — Jake Neighbours and Nikita Alexandrov — was good enough to defeat the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5 in a shootout. Brayden Schenn had the game winner in the fourth round.
Maybe it’s all the Toronto-based players traditionally on their roster, but the Blues like playing in Canada’s largest city. Tuesday’s victory was the sixth straight here by St. Louis, which is now 15-1-1 in its last 17 visits.
In goal, Jordan Binnington won his 104th NHL game, tying him for fifth on the franchise’s career list with Brian Elliott.
Probably the last thing the Blues wanted against a Toronto team with all kinds of high-end talent was a goal-fest, but that’s what the game turned into during the second period. Somehow, the Blues had the best of it through two periods, taking a 5-4 lead into the third period with the help of stellar special teams work.
Namely, two power play goals and a shorthanded score.
The Blues held that 5-4 lead seven minutes into the final period until Robert Thomas went off for high-sticking Michael Bunting. The Blues had been 2 for 2 on the penalty kill at this point, but this time Bunting got them with a shot from the near slot to tie it at 5-5 all with 12:05 to play.
It stayed at 5-5 as the clock wound down in the third. And it was 5-5 after regulation as the teams went into overtime for the second time in eight days.
Although Toronto had all the possession in the first couple minutes of overtime, the Blues had several strong chances as the OT wound down — including Grade A chances by Pavel Buchnevich and Schenn.
The teams combined for six goals in a dizzying second period with every Blues goal followed by a Toronto goal. Jordan Kyrou got the circus started with his 18th goal of the season — with the Blues very active at the net front, Kyrou pounced on a loose puck in front for a power play goal.
It gave St. Louis two power-play goals for only the third time this season.
After a crushing check by Neighbours separated the puck from Mark Giordano, Josh Leivo hustled in and scored on his own rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
And Brandon Saad’s second goal of the night came while trailing down the slot after some gritty work by Schenn.
But in between those Blues goals came, in order, Toronto goals by William Nylander, Bunting and Auston Matthews. The Nylander and Matthews goals came off quick shots that seemed to stop Binnington off guard.
So it was a 5-4 game, with the Blues holding their own.
A local promotion in Toronto gives everyone at Scotiabank a free slice of pizza if the Maple Leafs score first in the opening period. Alas, Tuesday was not a free pizza night.
That’s because with Justin Faulk in the penalty box for tripping Mitchell Marner, Saad scored a short-handed goal to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead at the 4:52 mark. It was Saad’s ninth goal of the season and his second shorty of the season. All told, he has eight shorthanded goals in 12 NHL seasons.
This wasn’t a case of Saad having a breakaway. He deked his way around Marner and then beat Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov.
The Blues took a 2-0 lead when Schenn had a net-front tip-in of a Kyrou shot at the 13:01 mark. The Blues had gone 0 for 7 on the power play in their two previous games before Schenn scored his eighth goal of the season and his first since Dec. 12 against Nashville.
Toronto intensified its checking over the later minutes of the opening period and it paid off in more zone time and eventually a tip-in goal by Pierre Engvall at the 17:28 mark to make it a 2-1 game.
