ST. LOUIS — The New Jersey Devils scored five goals in the third period in a 7-4 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.
Nico Hischier had two goals and an assist, and Yegor Sharangovich had a goal and two assists for the Devils (17-26-5), who have scored seven goals in back-to-back wins after a seven-game losing streak. P.K. Subban and Jimmy Vesey each had a goal and an assist, and Jon Gillies made 27 saves.
“A tremendous comeback,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought the second period got away from us a little bit. We had a couple turnovers in the defensive zone that allowed them a couple opportunities, but after the second, we talked about the mistakes we made. We said, ‘We’ve got one shot to tie the game up.’ We played really well in the first period. We knew they’d make a push in the second, but I thought our guys responded really well in the third.”
Brayden Schenn scored twice, and Torey Krug had two assists for the Blues (26-14-5), who have lost their past two games. Jordan Binnington made 22 saves.
“Obviously not good enough start to finish tonight,” Schenn said. “It’s not a confidence issue, it’s not a hard-work issue. I think it’s maybe a little bit of a committing to the little details that maybe win you the game and just got to find a way to be better at that. Not be better, just be more consistent with it. Those are things we can clean up, and we will.”
Sharangovich tied it 3-3 at 9:08 of the third period when he converted Hischier’s saucer pass, and Hischier scored for the third straight game at 11:34 after a cross-ice pass from Subban to give the Devils a 4-3 lead.
Vesey scored at 17:41 with a backhand from the slot to make it 5-3.
“A little bit of the cliches, but we played the right way, we did the right things at the right times to make ourselves successful and the opportunities we got, we scored on, and that’s the difference,” Devils defenseman Damon Severson said. “When you’re burying your opportunities, that’s the key. There were some shot blocks, some guys taking hits to make plays. A lot of good commitment tonight from our team.
“That’s a real good veteran team over there. We knew they were going to be solid against us tonight, and we really needed to bear down. I thought our guys skated well tonight. That was another key thing for sure.”
Schenn cut it to 5-4 at 18:17, but Jesper Boqvist (18:41) and Hischer (19:50) each scored an empty-net goal for the 7-4 final.
It was the Blues’ first game since the NHL All-Star break; they lost 4-1 to the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 29.
“In the third period, the game was under control until they tied it up and then I thought that we lost our confidence there and just kind of fell apart,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “We’ve been off a long time, that could’ve been part of it. We’ll look at the thing tomorrow and get ready for Saturday (against the Chicago Blackhawks).”
Subban scored at 2:12 of the first period with a one-timer from the high slot after a turnover by Justin Faulk to give the Devils a 1-0 lead.
Michael McLeod made it 2-0 at 15:07 on a delayed penalty, but Klim Kostin cut it to 2-1 at 15:37 on a one-timer from the left circle. It was Kostin’s first goal in 30 games.
Schenn tied it 2-2 at 5:13 of the second period when he dove to push a loose puck past Gillies after a shot from Colton Parayko at the right point.
Faulk scored at 15:03 to give the Blues a 3-2 lead. His initial shot from the blue line hit the post, caromed off Gillies’ right pad and slowly rolled across the goal line before Devils forward Pavel Zacha could clear it away.
NOTES: Binnington has allowed at least four goals in six of his past eight starts. … It was New Jersey’s first win at St. Louis since Dec. 30, 2008 (nine games). … The Devils have won back-to-back road games for the first time this season after a 7-1 victory at the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. … Hischier has four goals in the past three games after not scoring in seven straight. … Boqvist has scored six points (four goals, two assists) in the past six games. … Devils center Jack Hughes missed his third straight game in NHL COVID-19 protocol. … Gillies was acquired by New Jersey from St. Louis on Dec. 15, 2021 for future considerations. … Schenn has scored 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his past seven games. … Blues center Tyler Bozak was a healthy scratch for the first time this season; he was replaced by Dakota Joshua, who won three of six face-offs and was plus-1 in 7:22 of ice time.
