BUFFALO — Vladimir Tarasenko had a hat trick and two assists, and the St. Louis Blues won their seventh straight, 6-2 against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
St. Louis remained tied with the Minnesota Wild for second in the Central Division. Minnesota defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime on Thursday and has one game in hand.
Robert Thomas had five assists, and Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and two assists for the Blues (44-20-10), who are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games. Jordan Binnington made 34 saves.
“It’s pretty cool,” Thomas said of the milestone. “I think the most important thing is just getting the team in shape for the playoffs. They’re coming right around the corner. Every win means so much, especially when home ice is on the line.”
Owen Power had an assist for his first NHL point, and Craig Anderson made 20 saves for the Sabres (27-38-11).
“I was real happy with our guys’ effort,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I was happy with our guys’ execution for the most part to create chances. And it’s one of those games that you lose and you actually feel bad for your guys. They were dialed in and they put forth a great effort. And you’re disappointed that they didn’t get rewarded more for the effort and some of the execution. It happens. That’s life sometimes. In the end, you walk in the locker room and you know you have a group of guys that are just [ticked] off they didn’t win, and that feels good as a coach. They don’t feel like they’re overwhelmed. They just feel like they can take charge and I like that.”
Rasmus Asplund gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 12:20 of the first period when he tipped in Henri Jokiharju‘s point shot.
“Obviously when you get rewarded with a tip like today, it feels great,” Asplund said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work the whole year and getting rewarded is obviously the best feeling you can get for it.”
David Perron tied it 1-1 with 24 seconds remaining in the period with a one-timer from the left circle on a 5-on-3 power play.
Brandon Saad put St. Louis ahead 2-1 on the power play 17 seconds into the second period, taking a pass from Thomas in the right circle and beating Anderson blocker side.
“Any time you get a power play in a game where you’re struggling and they’re really taking it to you, I think the power play can really change the momentum and spark it,” Thomas said. “So obviously a great shot by ‘DP’ and ‘Saader’ there. That was huge for us.”
Alex Tuch tied it 2-2 at 4:20 when he took a feed from Power in the slot.
“I think it’s just nice to kind of get it out of the way and not have to worry about it,” Power said. “I think this is another step for me to get more comfortable in the League, so I thought it was a good night, but I still think I’ve got a lot I can do a lot better.”
Tarasenko put the Blues in front 3-2 at 7:18 when he one-timed a pass from Buchnevich into a wide-open net. He extended it 4-2 at 12:45, poking the puck around Power before skating to the net and sliding the puck by Anderson’s left pad.
“He’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve,” Binnington said. “Haven’t seen that one in a while and it was well executed.”
Buchnevich made it 5-2 at 6:18 of the third period, getting his stick on a bouncing puck at the front of the net before it hit Tuch’s skate and redirected into the net.
Tarasenko scored into an empty net at 17:32 for the 6-2 final.
NOTES: Thomas has six goals and 17 assists in an 11-game point streak. … Thomas has 53 assists. He reached the 50-assist mark in his 64th game. The last Blues player to reach the milestone in fewer games was Craig Janney, who did so in 53 games in 1993-94. … He is the fifth St. Louis player with five assists in a regular-season game, joining Dallas Drake (Oct. 29, 2003), Adam Oates (Jan. 26, 1991), Bernie Federko (Feb. 27, 1988) and Brian Sutter (Nov. 22, 1983). … Buchnevich has five goals and nine assists in an eight-game point streak. … Tuch has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games. … Tage Thompson had an assist, giving him 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in his past 17 games.
