Blues 4, Oilers 2
EDMONTON, Alberta -- The St. Louis Blues spoiled the Oilers home opener with a 4-2 win Thursday night to continue their run of dominance vs. Edmonton.
It marks the eighth straight time the Blues beat the Oilers, a streak that dates back to Dec. 21, 2013. In that span, the Blues outscored the Oilers 34-13.
Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko broke a 1-1 tie when he ripped a shot past Oilers goalie Cam Talbot with 3:59 left in the second period. Center Jori Lehtera's clean face-off win saw the puck come to defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who cushioned the puck so Tarasenko could unwind the slap shot. It was Tarasenko's third goal of the season.
Centre Paul Stastny was in the right place in the right time to give the Blues their third goal. With the Blues on a third-period power play, left winger Alexander Steen's pass banked off Stastny and into the Oilers' net.
Oilers left winger Taylor Hall cut the Blues' lead to one with a little more than 13 minutes left in the final period. But it was as close as the home team would come, and Edmonton recorded its fourth straight loss to start the season.
Steen scored with 2:09 left to seal the Oilers' fate.
The Oilers took the lead just 1:36 into the game, raising the hopes of a full house at Rexall Place. Right winger Teddy Purcell dumped the puck into the Blues zone, and it took a wild bounce off the end boards, coming back right in front of the Blues' net. Left winger Lauri Korpikoski pounced on the puck and put it through the legs of Blues goalie Brian Elliott.
But the Blues got it back less than two minutes later. Right winger Troy Brouwer's shot was stopped by Talbot, but the rebound fell to Lehtera, who swatted the bouncing puck into the net for his first goal of the season.
There was a moment of first-period panic when Edmonton center Connor McDavid, the first-round pick of the 2015 draft, crumpled to the ice after being hacked by Bouwmeester. But McDavid shook it off and continued.
NOTES: The Oilers debuted their new orange third jerseys, a throwback to their WHA roots. ... The Oilers are now 19-12-5 in home openers. ... Oilers RW Jordan Eberle missed his fourth straight regular-season game. He injured his shoulder in a Sept. 29 pre-season game against Arizona. ... Blues rookie C Robby Fabri, who scored the game winner against Edmonton last Thursday in St. Louis, missed his second straight game with a concussion. Blues D Kevin Shattenkirk missed the game with a lower-body injury sustained Tuesday in Calgary. ... The Oilers scratched D Brandon Davidson, D Andrew Ference and LW Rob Klinkhammer. ... The Blues scratched C Scott Gomez and D Chris Butler.