The St. Louis Blues outplayed the Edmonton Oilers most of the game and then hung on for a 2-1 win Wednesday night.
“We were on our heels in the second period with the amount of penalties we took and turned one over to give them the break they needed to get a lead, and then we kind of chased the game from there,” said head coach Dave Tippett.
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
The Oilers’ Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell took penalties 30 seconds apart early in the second period, giving St. Louis a two-man advantage for 1:30. The Oilers killed the minors off to keep it scoreless.
St. Louis’ Brayden Schenn would open the scoring on a breakaway with 11:56 left in the second, beating Edmonton goaltender Mikko Koskinen high over the glove. The Blues’ Justin Faulk had an open net later in the period, but his shot was blocked by Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson.
“I thought we played a good game,” said Larsson. “Obviously Mikko was really good in net. We got some great opportunities too and we didn’t find the net ’till late, so it’s kind of the story of the game.”
LISTEN BELOW: Adam Larsson
St. Louis’ Mackenzie MacEachern converted a pass from Ryan O’Reilly to make it 2-0 6:23 into the third.
The Oilers finally scored with Koskinen on the bench for an extra attacker with 1:50 left. Edmonton forward James Neal swiped a puck in from the side of the net after Zack Kassian missed a chance in front. Kassian collided with Blues goalie Jake Allen on the play, preventing him from getting back into the crease. The Blues challenged for goalie interference, but the goal stood.
With the Blues penalized for the unsuccessful challenge, the Oilers went on the power play. Leon Draisaitl hit the post with 19 seconds left, and the Oilers couldn’t pull even.
Koskinen finished with 42 saves.
The Oilers (19-14-4) will host Pittsburgh Friday night.