BOSTON — Torey Krug had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues extended their point streak to nine with a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday.
Krug, who played his first nine NHL seasons with the Bruins, was playing his first game in Boston since signing a seven-year contract with the Blues on Oct. 9, 2020.
“It was fun. Obviously, a lot of different emotions throughout the day and stuff,” Krug said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been back here in the building. It was capped off pretty nicely with a win for us. So a good game overall.”
Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice, David Perron had a goal and an assist, and Pavel Buchnevich had two assists for St. Louis (43-20-10), which is 8-0-1 in its past nine games. Ville Husso made 39 saves.
The Blues remained tied for second in the Central Division with the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Tuesday.
“I thought our third period was pretty solid,” Perron said. “Just playing the right way. … If our team can have that identity moving forward, close games out, and have success, I think that’s the playoff success that we can have right there. That was fun.”
Patrice Bergeron and Marc McLaughlin scored for Boston (45-23-5), which has lost three of four. Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves.
The Bruins remained one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for third in the Atlantic Division.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Lack of execution. I think we’re selfish. Guys are wanting to hold onto the puck too long, wanting to make the play instead of letting the puck do the work. I think those two things are fairly evident.”
Perron scored 34 seconds into the first to put the Blues ahead 1-0, finishing a forehand-backhand deke on a 2-on-1 with Ryan O’Reilly.
Bergeron responded 15 seconds later to tie it 1-1 with a one-timer in the high slot.
McLaughlin gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 16:59, one-timing a rolling puck in the slot off a pass from Erik Haula from behind the net.
“Playing with two really skilled players like [Haula and Taylor Hall], you definitely have to get open for them and find those soft areas in the ice because they’re going to make those plays,” McLaughlin said. “So it’s been great getting the opportunity with them for sure.”
Krug tied it 2-2 at 15:10 of the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot after splitting Bergeron and Brad Marchand at the point on the power play.
“That was a big moment for us,” Krug said. “Obviously, I’ve seen those guys kill penalties for a long, long time. I had a front-row seat to it for a while, so I knew their tendencies.”
Tarasenko put St. Louis in front 3-2 at 18:12 with a turnaround shot after he received a backhand, between-the-legs pass from Robert Thomas on a 3-on-2.
“[Tarasenko’s] line had some looks,” Blue coach Craig Berube said. “He’s playing a solid, all-around game. Got him out there [at the end with Boston’s] goalie out, killing it off. He’s doing a good job all-around for us, and leadership-wise, too.”
Tarasenko extended the lead to 4-2 at 9:27 of the third with a one-timer on a 3-on-1 after the Bruins turned it over in the offensive zone.
“It’s just really not very intelligent hockey, and you don’t win against good teams when you don’t play intelligent hockey,” Cassidy said. “I think our effort — we’re trying and guys are working hard, we’ve just got to be smarter, plain and simple.”
Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo left the game with an undisclosed injury at 10:06 of the first. Cassidy said Carlo was “not feeling well.”
NOTES: Thomas extended his point streak to 10 games (six goals, 12 assists). … Tarasenko’s multigoal game was his 37th in the NHL, passing Brendan Shanahan for sole possession of fifth in Blues history. … Bergeron scored his ninth career opening-minute goal, tying Ray Bourque for the most in Bruins history. The only active players with more are Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (13), Joe Thornton of the Florida Panthers (11), Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (10) and Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings (10).
