The St. Louis Blues got third-period goals from Ivan Barbashev, Mackenzie MacEachern and Jaden Schwartz on Saturday to win their third straight game, 5-2 over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
Justin Faulk and Nathan Walker also scored for St. Louis, which is 5-1-1 in its past seven.
Jordan Binnington stopped 29 of 31 Penguins shots.
Sam Lafferty and Kris Letang scored for Pittsburgh, which lost its second straight. Matt Murray made 22 saves.
The Penguins played mostly with five defensemen. Brian Dumoulin was helped off the ice in the first minute after St. Louis' Zach Sanford fell on his right leg as the two pursued the puck behind the Pittsburgh net. There was no information on his status.
Faulk's first goal with the Blues opened the scoring at 7:52 of the first, just after a St. Louis power play. Sanford and defensemen Jack Johnson, battling in front of Murray, served as a screen for Faulk's shot from the right point.
On a stellar individual effort, Lafferty tied it at 6:27 of the second. The rookie carried the puck across the blue line and turned defenseman Derrick Pouliot, a one-time Pittsburgh prospect, inside out. With a clear shot at Binnington, he used a head fake, then slid the puck around the goalie's left skate for his fourth NHL goal.
Walker, who also picked up his first goal with the Blues, restored St. Louis' lead, 2-1, at 14:01 of the second. He batted a fluttering puck out of the air from the top of the right circle. It bounced and knuckled past Murray for his second career NHL goal in his 14th game.
Barbashev extended the lead to 3-1 at 2:54 of the third. The trailing player on a two-on-two, he converted a feed from Robert Thomas.
MacEachern, from the right post, shoveled in a feed from Jacob de la Rose to make it 4-1 at 7:09 of the third.
The Penguins cut it to 4-2 at 13:03 on Letang's shot from the right point that glanced in off St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
Schwartz beat Murray point blank on a power play at 17:05.
--Field Level Media
Pittsburgh | St. Louis | |
Sam Lafferty 1 | Points | Jaden Schwartz 2 |
Sam Lafferty 1 | Goals | Jaden Schwartz 1 |
Joseph Blandisi 1 | Assists | Ryan O'Reilly 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Jaden Schwartz 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Matt Murray .815 | Save Percentage | Jordan Binnington .935 |
Matt Murray 22 | Saves | Jordan Binnington 29 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Pittsburgh | 31 | 2 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 27 |
St. Louis | 27 | 5 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 22 |