Blues 3, Oilers 1

[October 09, 2015]  By Rob Rains, The Sports Xchange
 
 ST. LOUIS -- Right winger Robby Fabbri celebrated his first game in the NHL by scoring the game-winning goal in the third period Thursday night to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Fabbri, the Blues' first pick in the 2014 draft, converted a behind-the-back pass from center Jori Lehtera at 9:29 of the period to break a 1-1 tie. He is the first Blues player to score a goal in his NHL debut since right winger Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored the Blues' first goal Thursday night.

Right winger Troy Brouwer added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds.

The win improved the Blues' record against the Oilers to 18-2-1 since 2009 and spoiled the Edmonton coaching debut of Todd McLellan.

After giving up a fluke goal in the first period, the Blues tied the game 9:10 into the second period. A pass from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo sprung Tarasenko on a breakaway and he fired the puck past goalie Cam Talbot, making his debut for the Oilers.

Talbot, acquired from the Rangers after the Oilers gave up an NHL-most 276 goals last year, has seen Tarasenko before. He was in net last November when Tarasenko pulled off a highlight-reel goal in a game at Madison Square Garden.

The Oilers had taken the early lead 17:22 into the opening period on a power-play goal, just three seconds into a tripping penalty on Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. After the faceoff, Pietrangelo's clearing pass hit left winger Alexander Steen and deflected past goalie Brian Elliott and into the St. Louis net. Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was credited with the goal.

The game also marked the NHL debut of 18-year-old center Connor McDavid, who was the first overall pick in last summer's amateur draft by the Oilers. McDavid had a couple of good scoring chances in the third period stopped by Elliott.

NOTES: Blues RW Robby Fabbri and Ds Joel Edmundson and Colton Parayko made their NHL debuts. They are among seven newcomers to the roster since the end of last season. The 19-year-old Fabbri is the youngest player to make his Blues debut since LW Jaden Schwartz also was 19 in 2012. ... Oilers RW Jordan Eberle will miss at least the first four weeks of the season because of a shoulder injury. ... Eight players made their debut with the Oilers, including LW Anton Slepyshev, who played his first game in the NHL. ... The Blues don't play at home again until Oct. 24. They begin a six-game trip on Saturday at Minnesota. The Oilers play at Nashville on Saturday.

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