Maple Leafs 3, Blues 2 (OT)
Phil Kessel scored his league-best 12th goal in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Maple Leafs upended the host St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Thursday night.
With the Blues trailing 2-1 late and pressing for the equalizer, Patrik Berglund forced extra time by banging home a rebound of a Chris Stewart shot with 1:56 left in the third period.
Kessel shone in the shootout, deking St. Louis netminder Jaroslav Halak to put Toronto up in the first round.
Rookie netminder Ben Scrivens took over from there, stopping Alexander Steen, T.J. Oshie and Matt D'Agostini to punctuate a 37-save performance in regulation and OT.
Toronto used its sagging special teams to break out to a 2-0 first-period lead. After John-Michael Liles opened the scoring on a power play at 11:27, Kessel chipped a loose puck over Halak with the Leafs enjoying another man advantage at 17:02.
The Leafs' suspect penalty-killing was exposed in the second. Alex Pietrangelo hit Jason Arnott in the slot with a crisp pass, and the veteran forward converted with no Toronto defender nearby.