Blues hang on against Rangers for third straight win
ST. LOUIS -- Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored one goal and assisted on another to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
The victory was the third in a row for the Blues, only the fourth time in franchise history they have gone 3-0 to begin a season. They accomplished the feat most recent in 2013-14, when they won their first four games.
The two points for Stastny increased his total for the first three games to a team-high six, coming on two goals and four assists.
Backup goalie Carter Hutton earned the victory in his debut for the Blues, stopping 32 of 35 shots. He was particularly sharp in the final period, stopping 15 Rangers shots to protect the one-goal lead.
The Blues did not record a shot on goal in the period.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 15 of 18 shots in net for the Rangers.
Tarasenko put the Blues in front just 1:13 into the game on a breakaway goal, his third of the season. The Rangers responded with a goal from Chris Kreider to the tie the game 5:25 into the first period.
The Blues regained the lead with 2:28 to play in the period on a goal from Stastny, who knocked a rebound of a shot by Robby Fabbri past Lundqvist.
Stastny's pass set up a power-play goal from Alex Pietrangelo 2:28 into the second period to increase the Blues lead to 3-1, but the two-goal lead was short-lived as Mika Zibanejad scored just 30 seconds later to pull New York within 3-2.
The Blues lost three players to upper-body injuries during the game. Kyle Brodziak, Jori Lehtera and Carl Gunnarsson all departed during the first two periods, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately announced.
NOTES: RW Ty Rattie was a healthy scratch for the Blues for the third consecutive game. Coach Ken Hitchcock said Rattie likely will make his season debut on the team's upcoming three-game road trip. ... LW Jaden Schwartz, out with an elbow injury, will make the trip to western Canada with the Blues but still is not expected to be ready to play until around Nov. 1. ... St. Louis C Kyle Brodziak played in his 700 career game. ... The Rangers used the same lineup from Thursday's season opener. D Kevin Klein did not make the trip because of back spasms. ... New York returns home to host San Jose on Monday night while the Blues' next game is Tuesday night at Vancouver.