Blues blitz Devils for 7th win in row

[February 13, 2019]  Captain Alex Pietrangelo and Ivan Barbashev each collected two goals and an assist as the host St. Louis Blues extended their season-high winning streak to seven games with an 8-3 rout of the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak each had a goal and an assist, Jaden Schwartz scored to end a 22-game goal drought, and Mackenzie MacEachern also tallied as the Blues recorded their most goals in a game since an 8-3 romp over the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 21, 2017.

Vladimir Tarasenko set up a pair of tallies to extend his point streak to a career-high nine games (seven goals, seven assists), and rookie Jordan Binnington finished with 20 saves to improve to 10-1-1 in 14 appearances this season.

Kyle Palmieri scored his team-leading 24th goal, and Pavel Zacha and Mirco Mueller also tallied for the Devils, who lost for the seventh straight time in St. Louis. Keith Kinkaid yielded all eight goals on 39 shots to drop to 0-4-1 in five career appearances against the Blues.

St. Louis got out of the blocks in a hurry, registering 20 shots on goal to take a 3-1 advantage after one period.

Pietrangelo wristed a shot from the left circle that caromed off the stick of New Jersey's Jesper Bratt and between the pads of Kinkaid to open the scoring at 5:08 of the first period.

Barbashev and Zacha took advantage of turnovers to trade tallies before Schwartz restored the Blues' two-goal advantage with 4:13 remaining in the first period after his wrist shot from inside the blue line handcuffed Kinkaid. Schwartz's goal was his fourth of the season and first since an empty-net tally in a 4-1 win against Edmonton on Dec. 18.

Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz (17) handles the puck during the first period against the New Jersey Devils at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis scored three times in the second period to effectively put the game out of reach. O'Reilly and MacEachern used their considerable speed on partial breakaways before Bozak's attempted pass banked off Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy and between Kinkaid's pads for a 6-1 lead with 4:40 left.

Pietrangelo capped his two-goal performance with a backhander just 45 seconds into the third period. Barbashev answered Palmieri's tally by scoring from the right doorstep at 9:25. Three minutes later, Mueller's unassisted tally capped the scoring.

--Field Level Media

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