Brandon Saad scored in overtime to lift the St. Louis Blues past the visiting Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Monday night.
With the Los Angeles Kings falling 4-3 at Winnipeg, the Blues (40-31-4, 84 points) moved within three points of the Kings for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Brayden Schenn scored twice in his 500th game for the Blues, who are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games. St. Louis’ Kevin Hayes logged two assists and Jordan Binnington made 36 saves.
Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers (45-23-5, 95 points). Stuart Skinner stopped 26 shots as Edmonton had a three-game winning streak end.
In overtime, Edmonton turned the puck over in the neutral zone right where Saad was coming off the St. Louis bench. Saad went in alone on Skinner and scored from in close with a move to his forehand.
The Oilers had tied the game 2-2 with 5:25 left in regulation when Connor McDavid stole the puck behind the Blues’ net and set up Draisaitl for a tap-in at the right post. McDavid has scored 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) during an eight-game point streak.
Edmonton struck first, 7:05 into the game. Ekholm took Connor Brown’s pass from behind the net and scored from the center point through traffic.
The Oilers lost two goals due to officiating calls while trying to add to its 1-0 lead. First Evander Kane believed he scored with 3:47 left in the first period, but officials ruled that his redirection goal was hit with a high stick.
After Zach Hyman drove the net for a redirection and bumped into Binnington in the crease in the second period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins jammed in the rebound. However, the Blues successfully challenged the goal for goaltender interference.
The Blues tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 8:15 of the second. Schenn scored with a one-time power-play blast from the right circle.
Edmonton lost its challenge for goaltender interference, so St. Louis went right back on the power play. Another Oilers penalty gave the Blues a five-on-three advantage, but St. Louis failed to capitalize.
Binnington made several good saves, including one on Draisaitl’s breakaway, to keep the game tied after two periods.
Schenn put the Blues up 2-1 by converting a two-on-one rush with Kasperi Kapanen 1:44 into the third period.
–Field Level Media
