Tarasenko leads Blues past Oilers in OT
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Vladimir Tarasenko scored 4:20 into overtime to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 comeback win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Alex Pietrangelo's goal with 7:35 left tied the game to help bail out Blues goaltender Jake Allen, who made 13 saves on just 16 shots.
Ben Scrivens faced a barrage of St. Louis shots, stopping 37 of the 41 fired his way.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}T.J. Oshie started the scoring for the Blues in the first period, and Edmonton's David Perron and Nikita Nikitin both scored second-period goals against their former team.
Kevin Shattenkirk tied the game 31 seconds into the third period, but Mark Arcobello's goal nearly 3 1/2 minutes later gave the Oilers their second lead of the game.
Oshie had three points, and Taylor Hall led Edmonton with two, both assists.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Edmonton has now lost nine games in a row, picking up only three points out of a possible 18. The Blues have won six of their last nine games.
The Blues could not convert a power play opportunity in overtime, but they managed to beat the Oilers for the 12th time in the last 14 meetings. Tarasenko puck-handled around Edmonton's Justin Schultz to create his own shooting lane, and his shot beat Scrivens to get his 13th goal of the season.
"I think everyone stood up before he even shot it, and I already figured it was going in," said Oshie on the winning goal. "It's fun watching that kid shoot the puck. He can't do it enough."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Oilers entered the third period with a 2-1 lead, but it did not last long. Only 31 seconds into the period, Shattenkirk ripped a shot through traffic past Scrivens to tie it up for his second goal of the season.
They took another lead minutes later. Arcobello beat David Backes crashing the net, and he directed Hall's pass across the slot past Allen for his fifth goal of the season to make it a 3-2 game.
"When you look at our second period, if we play games like that, we win games," Scrivens said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pietrangelo tied the game with his second goal this season as the Blues intensified their pressure. An Oshie shot in tight created a rebound, and with Scrivens down in the crease, Pietrangelo was able to pounce on the rebound and wrist it home.
The Blues struck first more than halfway through the opening period. Ian Cole connected with Tarasenko with a perfect cross-ice pass, and Tarasenko dropped it off to Oshie trailing the play. He stepped into the shot and fired it over Scrivens' shoulder.
St. Louis was burned by a pair of former players in the second period. Perron found a soft spot in the St. Louis defense in the high slot, and he wristed a shot by Allen with traffic in front for his third goal this season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Edmonton took its first lead with less than four minutes remaining in the second. Hall found Nikitin sneaking into the play from the blue line and made a cross-ice pass that Nikitin lifted past Allen for his second of the season.
Game Notes
The Oilers have yet to win a game they've trailed after the first period ... Edmonton is now 0-12-2 against the Western Conference ... This is Allen's first game since goalie Brian Elliott was injured ... Blues coach Ken Hitchcock tied Mike Keenan for the sixth most wins all-time with 672 victories.