Binnington helps Blues top Lightning, moves into 2nd on franchise wins list

ST. LOUIS — Jordan Binnington made 21 saves in a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.

Binnington moved into second place in Blues history with his 149th NHL win, passing Jake Allen behind Mike Liut (151).

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Jordan Kyrou, Oskar Sundqvist and Alexey Toropchenko scored for St. Louis (7-6-0), which has won two straight to start a five-game homestand.

The Blues had to adjust to the news of forward Dylan Holloway being taken from the bench on a stretcher late in the first period and then being taken to the hospital.

“Once we heard he was OK, we were kind of talking in the locker room that we’re all obviously in the same boat emotionally right now and we’ve got a job to finish for him and to get two points,” Sundqvist said of Holloway. “Now after the game, we can start shifting all our focus to him.”

Holloway was hit in the neck by a shot from Lightning forward Nick Paul that deflected off the stick of Kyrou at 17:32 of the first. The forward finished his shift, playing another 16 seconds, before skating to the bench.

Play was then halted during a stoppage with 1:11 remaining in the period, when Holloway was being attended to on the bench by the Blues’ medical staff.

The teams were sent to their respective locker rooms, and the remainder of the period was finished at the start of the second period.

“It’s one of those things you don’t want to be a part of; I’ve been through one of them and thankfully he’s OK,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “I’m not the guy to give updates, but we know he’s doing OK. Just a freaky accident, freaky thing that happened. Glad that we got good news and he’ll be fine.”

Nikita Kucherov had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning (7-6-0), who have lost three straight after winning three in a row.

“Score more goals than the other team and defend,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said when asked about winning the first game of the four-game trip, then losing three in a row.

Nick Perbix put the Lightning ahead 1-0 at 2:39 of the second period, skating in off the left and stuffing in his own rebound.

Sundqvist tied it 1-1 at 7:57, crashing the net and finishing Matthew Kessel‘s one-timer from the blue line.

“Just seeing [Kessel] shooting and trying to get underneath my guy,” Sundqvist said. “Getting to a spot where the rebound might end up. I was lucky that it ended up on my stick. I was happy to see it go in.”

Toropchenko put the Blues ahead 2-1 at 18:25 when he found a loose puck in the slot and roofed a wrist shot into the top right corner for his first goal of the season.

“Finally,” Toropchenko said. “Just be in the right place and goals will come if you do the right things. Just play hard and be patient.”

Kyrou made it 3-1 at 8:51 of the third period, converting Schenn’s pass to the slot from the left wall.

Victor Hedman cut it to 3-2 at 11:43 after a Blues turnover on a slap shot from the top of the left circle.

“We’ve just got to be better,” Hedman said. “That’s the bottom line.

“We feel like we’ve come out hard each game and have a great first period. Then we’re kind of on our heels and get hemmed in in the second period. We’ve just got to be better for 60 minutes.”

NOTES: Lightning forward Brayden Point did not play with an undisclosed injury and is day to day. … Kucherov has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a four-game point streak. … Hedman has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Kyrou has seven points (four goals, three assists) in seven games against the Lightning.