(St. Louis) Christian Dvorak completed a hat trick in an empty net and the Montreal Canadiens prevailed 7-4 at the expense of the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Posted at 10:05 p.m.
Updated at 10:54 p.m.
Cole Caufield completed a brace by giving CH a 4-3 lead late in the second period. Martin St-Louis’ troupe stayed the course thereafter.
Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slakvosky also scored in a winning cause, while Jake Allen blocked 26 shots.
Jordan Kyrou (twice), Noel Acciari and Vladimir Tarasenko fought back for the Blues, beaten in their last four games. As the streak progressed, the team was outscored 20-7 in goals.
Jordan Binnington made 18 saves.
The Habs were on the second stop of a four-game trip that will also take the club to St. Paul and Winnipeg on Tuesday and Thursday.
Kyrou gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 7:47 in the first period, redirecting the shot from the top of Brayden Schenn’s slot. The disc slowly slipped between Allen’s pads.
Kirby Dach wanted to sweep the disk out of harm’s way, but just a little too late.
Schenn earned a point in a third straight game.
The Habs leveled the score at 15:08, captain Suzuki knee deflecting a Jordan Harris point shot. In the moments before, Johnathan Kovacevic intercepted a pass to the blue line and handed it to Caufield, who missed his shot before passing to Harris. Suzuki earned a fourth goal this season.
Acciari put the Blues back in control at 5:10 in the middle period. Tyler Pitlick shot from the right circle and Acciari used the rebound for his first goal of the season.
Kyrou made it 3-1 at 9:38 of the same engagement, with a wrist shot from the right circle. He hit the target on a pass from Justin Faulk, seven seconds after a face-off won by Ryan O’Reilly.
Faulk has a point in six of seven games this season. The CH replied with two goals in 2:09, the second of which during a penalty against Ivan Barbashev.
Dach worked hard and shot outside the net. The puck gave against the boards and ended up on the right side where Caufield was prowling, for his first road goal this season.
Slafkovsky, back after a three-game absence, followed up after an assist from St. Louis native Chris Wideman.
“It was beneficial (to watch games from the top of the arenas), but I prefer to play,” said the very first choice of the last draft.
“It’s a process,” said St-Louis. You have to be careful in situations where you dive an 18-year-old player. Tonight, he delivered something positive with every appearance on the ice.
“It’s important to have the opportunity to see the action from the heights. You realize that you have more time than you think to do this or that gesture. He delivered a very good game. »
Caufield then broke the tie at 15:46 with his seventh goal of the season — again on the power play.
Dach first passed far to the left of Binnington, to Suzuki. The latter quickly spotted Caufield coming close to the goal at just the right moment, coming from the top of the right circle. Once again a good scoring instinct, from the 21-year-old American.
“We kept fighting and keeping it simple,” Caufield said.
The Montreal club added to the cushion thanks to a double in 40 seconds from Dvorak, early in the third period.
Dvorak scored his first goal this season when his pass touched Nick Leddy’s left skate before going to the promised land. He reissued by deflecting a shot from the blue line of Josh Anderson from quite high. The officials studied the sequence for a possible high stick, before ruling in favor of the CH.
Tarasenko reduced the lead to 2:47 on a breakaway, following a turnover. St. Louis wasn’t going to come any closer, however.
Dvorak completed his hat-trick with 1:35 on the clock, into an empty net.
The CH scored two goals in a row with the advantage of one man, against a squad starting the match in fifth place in the circuit at this level.
“It helps a lot with confidence,” Suzuki said.
The Blues won their first three games of the season, but they haven’t tasted a win since.
The Kings and Islanders will be in Missouri next week.