Blues storm past Panthers but lose two to injury

 

[February 15, 2023]  Brayden Schenn scored twice as the St. Louis Blues defeated the visiting Florida Panthers 6-2 Tuesday night, winning their second straight after losing five in a row.

Ivan Barbashev had a goal and two assists and Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist for the Blues, while Nick Leddy and Ryan O'Reilly also added goals for St. Louis. Jordan Binnington made 34 saves in the win.

But the victory was costly as the Blues lost defenseman Torey Krug (lower body) and forward Brandon Saad (upper body) to injuries in the second period. Neither returned to the game.

Eetu Luostarinen and Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers (with Verhaeghe adding an assist, as well). Matthew Tkachuk had two assists and Spencer Knight made 22 saves.

The Blues took advantage of a lucky bounce to take a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at the 11:27 mark of the first period.

Krug wristed a shot that deflected off Schenn and went wide of the right post. The puck caromed off the end boards and banked in off Knight's leg.

Schenn made it 2-0 just 35 seconds into the second period. Kyrou stole the puck in his zone and fed Schenn, who raced up the left wing and beat Knight.

Leddy, who was playing in his 900th career game, pushed the lead to 3-0 with 7:09 left in the period. He stole the puck in his zone and weaved up ice to score.

The Panthers countered with 1:16 left in the period. Tkachuk stole the puck behind the net and set up Luostarinen's tap-in.

Feb 14, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight (30) defends the net against St. Louis Blues left wing Brandon Saad (20) during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

But the Blues scored two goals 20 seconds apart in the third period to make it 5-1.

After the Blues withstood Florida's extensive offensive-zone pressure, Pavel Buchnevich moved in from the right wing and fed O'Reilly breaking to the net for the redirection.

Kyrou tapped in a cross-crease pass from Robert Thomas for the second of the two quick strikes.

Verhaeghe cut the lead to 5-2 by taking Tkachuk's drop pass and scoring from atop the right circle. But Barbashev's empty-net goal iced the game.

--Field Level Media

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