Late goal seals Panthers' 5-0 trip, 2-1 victory
ST. LOUIS -- Vincent Trocheck scored with 4.6 seconds left in the third period to give the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
The win extended the Panthers' winning streak to five games and allowed them to complete a 5-0 road trip for the first time in franchise history. They have won eight of their last nine games.
Trocheck scored his 21st goal of the season through traffic in front of the St. Louis net. It appeared goalie Jake Allen never saw the shot as he did not move to attempt to block the high shot.
The Blues had tied the score at 1 on a goal by Kyle Brodziak 2:54 into the third period. Brodziak was able to score off a rebound as the Blues' fourth line put pressure on Panthers goalie James Reimer, who had to make only 15 saves through the first two periods.
Until Brodziak's goal, Reimer had protected a 1-0 lead since the middle of the first period.
The Blues' two best scoring chances in the opening two periods came when Colton Parayko hit the crossbar with a slap shot in the first period and when Reimer made a big save on Jori Lehtera in the second period. The Blues were limited to three shots on goal in the second period.
Jonathan Marchessault had given the Panthers the 1-0 lead at 10:40 of the first period. A turnover by Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk behind his net set up Nick Bjugstad's pass to Marchessault, who was able to stuff the puck past Allen for his 17th goal of the season.
The Blues, who had a six-game winning streak snapped Saturday, fell to 7-3 since Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock as coach on Feb. 1.
NOTES: The Blues activated C Paul Stastny off injured reserve before the game. He missed the previous four games because of a lower-body injury. ... Blues LW Alexander Steen played in his 800th career game. ... Eight players on the Blues' roster were not born when Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr played his first game in the NHL on Oct. 5, 1990. Jagr, at 45, is even two years older than Blues coach Mike Yeo. ... The Panthers return home to host the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. The Blues begin a league-mandated break on Tuesday. Their next game will be Sunday night against the Blackhawks in Chicago.