LDN - Sports

Oilers hand Blues fourth straight loss

[March 01, 2017] ST. LOUIS -- Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot is not showing any signs of slowing down.

Center Mark Letestu scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period, and center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists as the Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Forward Milan Lucic also scored for the Oilers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Talbot, playing in his league-high 57th game, made 25 saves as the Oilers finished a six-game road trip with a 3-3 mark.

"He's been amazing for us," said Oilers center Connor McDavid, who assisted on the winning goal. "I don't really know how to explain how much he means to our group. He brings it each and every night and he battles in there no matter what's going on. He's been a rock for us and I feel he's been a big leader for our group."

Talbot improved to 3-0 against the Blues this season. He made a pad save to stop a Jaden Schwartz backhand early in the third after the Blues forward found himself all alone in front off of a faceoff to preserve the lead.

"He's definitely a steady presence for us and we have a lot of confidence in him and he made some big saves again and we did a pretty good job of shutting it down late," Nugent-Hopkins said.

Forward Paul Stastny scored for the Blues, who lost their fourth straight game. Goalie Jake Allen made 23 saves.

The Oilers won their fourth straight against the Blues and it's the first time St. Louis has gone winless against Edmonton since the 2008-2009 season. The Blues had earned at least a point in its previous five home games against the Oilers.

"We stuck with it," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "We had good goaltending. Special teams, especially on the power play, scored us a big one, and we get home now and try to make some hay there."

McDavid now has 51 assists and a league-leading 72 points this season. He has points in eight of his past nine games.

Edmonton had lost three of its last four heading into St. Louis. The Oilers now have 76 points, moving them ahead of idle Anaheim for second place in the Pacific Division.

"It's a long road trip and we didn't want to let some points slip away," McDavid said. "It's definitely good to finish up .500 and go back home for a while now."

Stastny gave the Blues a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, tipping a shot from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo for his 16th goal of the season.

It took the Oilers just 44 seconds to find the equalizer as Lucic slapped it past Allen.

Letestu made it 2-1 Oilers with a goal on a two-man advantage 41 seconds into the second period. Moments earlier, Allen made a slick post-to-post save on McDavid, who was able to poke the rebound away from Allen and feed Letestu for his second assist of the game.

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Oilers center Mark Letestu (55) is congratulated by left wing Anton Slepyshev (42) and defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

"I expect to score goals with all the left-handed shots with me being the only righty out there," Letestu said. "That's my job, to get to areas where I can score and he gave me one tonight that not to many guys are going to miss on."

Blues coach Mike Yeo said the Oilers' quick answer to the Blues score was the turning point.

"When they scored, all of a sudden we started watching them," Yeo said. "We were waiting for the next bad thing to happen and we stopped playing. So that was the difference in the game because at that point they drew the five-on-three and obviously got the go-ahead goal."

It is the second time during this losing streak that the Blues have given up the eventual game-winning goal while trying to kill off a five-on-three power play. Adding to the frustration in the St. Louis locker room is that the Blues have only been outscored 11-6 in those losses.

St. Louis, stuck on 67 points, fell seven points behind streaking Nashville for third place in the Central Division.

"We're not winning, I think everyone's pissed off around here and we know how valuable points are," Stastny said. "We want to take it in our own hands. We can't be sitting here and relying on other teams to lose to give us some breathing room."

NOTES: Blues F Zach Sanford, who was acquired in the Kevin Shattenkirk trade late Monday night, was not in the lineup. Sanford, 22, had two goals and an assist in 26 games with the Capitals this season. ... Oilers F Pat Maroon, a St. Louis native, is third on the team in scoring with 20 goals. ... During the game, the Oilers announced the acquisition of F David Desharnais from Montreal for D Brandon Davidson, who was a scratch. Desharnais 30, is 47.8 percent on draws, which should help Edmonton. The Oilers are 30th in the league in faceoff percentage. ... The Oilers host Detroit on Saturday. The Blues travel to Winnipeg on Friday.

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