Schwartz nets hat trick, Blues throttle Oilers

[March 20, 2019]  Jaden Schwartz capped his hat trick with a power-play goal at 18:48 of the third period as the St. Louis Blues defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 7-2 on Tuesday night.

David Perron added two goals and an assist, and Alex Pietrangelo and Pat Maroon also scored for the Blues. Goaltender Jordan Binnington made 15 saves to improve to 14-3-0 in his past 17 starts.

St. Louis, which won for just the second time in six games, maintained its two-point lead on the Dallas Stars for third place in the Central Division. Edmonton sits seven points off the second Western Conference wild-card spot, currently held by the Arizona Coyotes.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zack Kassian scored for the Oilers. Mikko Koskinen stopped 17 of 20 shots before being pulled 5:42 into the second period after the Blues took a three-goal lead. Connor McDavid failed to tally a point, ending his 12-game scoring streak.

The Blues dominated the first half of the game, outshooting the Oilers 13-5 in the first period and opening the second by taking the first 11 shots in taking a 4-0 advantage.

Schwartz opened the scoring at 11:41 of the first with a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle that beat Koskinen high to glove side. Perron got an assist on the goal to extend his point streak to a career-best 16 games.

Pietrangelo made it 2-0 just 27 seconds into the second, taking a pass from Schwartz on a two-on-one break and beating Koskinen with a backhander.

Schwartz scored again at 5:42 of the second, taking a pass from Tyler Bozak and squeezing a shot between Koskinen's pads from between the top of the faceoff circles.

Perron made it 4-0 at 7:14 of the second, banking a puck off backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz from behind the net. Stolarz stopped 20 of 24 shots.

Blues defenseman Michael Del Zotto (42) skates with the puck during the second period against the Edmonton Oilers at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Oilers finally got untracked late in the second, Nugent-Hopkins and Kassian scoring in the final 1:32 of the period to make it 4-2.

Positioned at the right post, Nugent-Hopkins collected a carom off the end boards after Adam Larsson's shot from the point and batted the puck off Binnington's right leg pad and just over the goal line.

Kassian scored 55 seconds later, taking a long lead pass from Oscar Klefbom and skating down the left wing before ducking behind the net and beating Binnington with a wraparound.

Perron scored his second of the game on the power play six minutes into the third to make it 5-2 and Maroon tallied at 13:22.

Forward Vladimir Tarasenko returned to the Blues lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.