Blues keep points coming, defeat Lightning

[November 20, 2019]    Oskar Sundqvist scored the decisive third-period goal to lift the St. Louis Blues past the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 Tuesday night.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) makes a glove save as Tampa Bay Lightning center Alex Killorn (17) looks for the rebound during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Blues have earned points in 10 of their past 11 games, going 8-1-2.

The Lightning lost their second straight game after a three-game winning streak. They also lost winger Nikita Kucherov, who departed the game in the second period after Blues forward Brayden Schenn knocked him to the ice from behind.

David Perron and Jaden Schwartz also scored for the Blues, and goaltender Jordan Binnington made 17 saves.

Anthony Cirelli scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 of 33 shots.

The Lightning took a 1-0 first-period lead after Victor Hedman knocked the puck loose in the left corner of the Blues' zone. Alex Killorn swooped in and fired a centering pass to Cirelli atop the crease.

With Blues defenseman Vince Dunn standing in the crease, screening Binnington and facing the wrong way, Cirelli jammed the puck into the net at 16:36.

Less than two minutes into the second period, Sundqvist converted a steal into a clean walk-in through the left circle, but Vasilevskiy held his ground.

The Lightning nearly added to the lead midway through the period, but Binnington stopped Cirelli's short-handed breakaway and Killorn's spinning follow shot.

Sundqvist had another break-in during the second period, this time short-handed, but Vasilevskiy stopped his snap shot.

The Blues outshot the Lightning 18-4 in the second period and finally tied the game 1-1 with 2:36 left. Defenseman Colton Parayko shoveled the puck into the crease from a sharp angle, and it skipped through to Perron on the other side for the tap-in.

Sundqvist finally broke through at 6:16 of the third period, scoring from the right circle off a slick behind-the-back pass from Robert Thomas.

During a pregame ceremony, Lightning forward Pat Maroon received the Stanley Cup ring he earned while playing for his hometown Blues. Maroon nearly tied the game with 8:41 left to play with a backhand rebound conversion, but Binnington denied him with a sprawling save.

Schwartz iced the game with an empty-net goal with 4.4 seconds left.

--Field Level Media

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