LDN - Sports

Tarasenko scores in overtime as Blues beat Leafs

[February 10, 2017] TORONTO -- The St. Louis Blues are doing more than talking about commitment and discipline. They are showing the results that those qualities can bring.

In the first three games of a five-game road trip, they have allowed one goal. That came Thursday night when Morgan Rielly tied the game late in the second period for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After holding off a third-period surge by Toronto, the Blues needed only 20 seconds of overtime to earn a 2-1 victory on the 26th goal of the season by Vladimir Tarasenko.

It was the third win in a row for the Blues, who also got a goal from Patrik Berglund and 31 saves from Jake Allen.

"I think there's more commitment, more discipline," Allen said. "I just think guys have jumped on and are playing hard for each other.

The Blues lost center Paul Stastny to a lower-body injury during the second period.

"The guys stepped up and played really well," Allen said. "It's a tough position to fill."

Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said, "Obviously, we could have had a better scheme (in overtime). We could have stayed up with (Tarasenko) at the end there and tighter on him instead of standing still. Obviously, he is a good player."

Tarasenko said, "It's a really big win for us. We're just trying to play for each other. This was a really big test for us. We knew it wasn't going to be a 5-1 game like it was a home. We beat a really good team."

When the Blues defeated the Maple Leafs on Feb. 2, it was the first game as head coach for Mike Yeo, who replaced Ken Hitchcock. The Blues are 4-1-0 since the change.

"For me, what was impressive is you get a little bit of adversity, you lose (Stastny) in the game, you give up a goal late in the (second) period and our guys regrouped," Yeo said. "That's what you have to do. Things are not always going to be perfect, things are going to go against you, but you keep bearing down, you keep executing and keep finding a way, and that's what we did tonight."

Yeo said he did not have an update on Stastny.

Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen made 38 saves.

"I thought we got better and better as we came into the game," Andersen said. "The third period was unreal. We had some chances to win it, unfortunately we couldn't get it past them."

Berglund scored his 14th goal of the season from the slot at 4:15 of the first period to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

Andersen made a superb save late in the first period on Colton Parayko, reaching up to pluck the puck out of the air despite being down on the ice.

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Blues forward Patrik Berglund (21) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with St. Louis Blues forward Magnus Paajarvi (56) and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (4) and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) during the first period at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

"I got knocked down a little bit battling for the puck and I didn't have time to get up and get set," Andersen said. "It was just one of those things."

The Blues (28-22-5) outshot the Maple Leafs 16-4 in the first period.

St. Louis was coming off shutouts in its two previous games. Carter Hutton was in goal for a 2-0 win over the Flyers at Philadelphia on Monday. Allen was the goaltender Tuesday in a 6-0 win over the Senators in Ottawa. The Blues entered the game without allowing a goal in 120:18.

The Maple Leafs (25-17-11) tied the game at 18:56 of the second period on the second goal of the season by Rielly, who put in a rebound from the low slot. Nazem Kadri drove to the net and forced a save from Allen. William Nylander also was involved before Rielly pounced on the loose puck.

"I liked the way (St. Louis) played, to be honest with you," Babcock said. "I thought our team got better and better. We turned the puck over -- we lost too many battles early and then as we got more and more competitive, I thought we did a lot of good things and got a lot better. In the end, it was a good game for us and a good point."

NOTES: Toronto G Curtis McElhinney made 39 stops in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, but No. 1 G Frederik Andersen got the start Thursday. Andersen allowed 16 goals in his previous three starts, playing the entire game each time. He also allowed three goals on eight shots before being replaced by McElhinney on Jan. 31 in the 6-3 loss to Dallas. ... The Blues made one lineup change on Thursday with D Carl Gunnarsson, a former Maple Leafs player, replacing D Robert Bortuzzo. ... The Maple Leafs will play the third of four straight games at home on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres. ... The Blues play their fourth game of five in a row on the road against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

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