ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues were on the verge of getting blown out of the building against the high-powered Edmonton Oilers.
The game on Thursday was turning into a track meet, particularly in the back half of the first period, something the Blues didn't want.
"I think the first period we were trading chances and that doesn't work too well against these guys," Blues center Robert Thomas said. "I think we really got to our game plan and started working. It benefitted us. We drew a lot of penalties just from working. They had a lot of penalties in the d-zone. I think that was our mindset and it turned out well for us."
Thanks to Jordan Binnington, the Blues were within striking distance, then arguably played the best period of hockey in the second of a 6-3 win against the Oilers, sending Edmonton to their third loss in five following a 16-game winning streak.
Let's get right into those three keys to the eighth win in the past 10 games:
1. Making the proper adjustments in between the first and second periods -- The Blues (29-22-2) trailed 2-1 after one, the game was played at Edmonton's pace, and it was on the verge of falling out of their hands.
But the Blues didn't have to come in and peel paint off the walls.
"We honestly weren't that frustrated with our first period," Neighbours said. "You take three penalties and give the best power play unit in the league a lot of looks, that's going to obviously take away a lot of momentum, but I thought our start was good. Five-on-five, we were good. I thought we controlled most of the game and when you give them power plays, you're going to get in trouble and gives their top guys confidence, get them feeling the puck and you don't want to do that. Obviously came in here, regrouped, had a great second."
The Blues started playing in the Oilers' zone, starting with the puck and spending the first 1:09 in Edmonton's side of the ice when Neighbours tied the game, which fueled a four-goal second to help St. Louis take control.
"I don't know (what changed), maybe we found our legs," Binnington said. "We started playing predictable, we were more disciplined. We stayed out of the box. We played a good, overall game. It's nice to be back home and feeling good."
2. Crucial Binnington saves -- Let's face it, without Binnington, the Blues are talking about a second straight loss.
But when the game was tied, he made two highlight-reel saves on Zach Hyman within 72 seconds of one another late in the first to keep the game tied, then he stopped Derek Ryan with consecutive saves on a shorthanded breakaway early in the second to keep the game tied 2-2.
"Binner was outstanding," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "... He made some huge saves for us. ... Binner was outstanding when we needed him."
No question the Blues fed off that energy that Binnington provided to the team and to the building.
"It's nice to get some big saves there, some fun saves," Binnington said. "That goal in the last minute (of the first) kind of sucked, but we came in here and responded big coming out in the second period obviously. It was good to see."
"That game could easily have been 4-, 5-1," Thomas said. "We got into a track meet with them and that's what you need from your goalie. He kept us in that game and gave us a chance going into the second."
Neighbours added, "I didn't even know how to react. I didn't stand up, I didn't bang my (stick), I didn't know what to do. It's become normal for him at this point. All of us expect to see it. We obviously can't rely on it. When there are breakdowns, he's obviously there."
3. Limiting the damage from the Oilers' top skill guys -- Yes, Connor McDavid had three assists, following Thursday up after his six-assist performance Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, and Leon Draisaitl scored a power-play goal, but the Blues limited the damage to the Edmonton top guns.
McDavid finished a minus-2 and had just three shots on goal; Draisaitl had the goal on just two shots, and Hyman was a minus-3 in the game with an assist.
"At least he didn't get six points. We'll take that as a win," Thomas joked about McDavid. "... We're coming along. I think we're trending in the right direction. We're coming together as a team and playing the right way. If you look at the last four games, everyone's chipping in, different lines stepping up, carrying the weight every night. That's what you need coming down the stretch and playing these big games, you need everyone involved and it's nice to see it coming together."
