ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Saad scored twice and Jordan Binnington stopped 31 shots as the St. Louis Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Saturday night.
Jake Neighbours and Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues, who won in regulation for the first time this season. Robert Thomas and Kasperi Kapanen, playing in his first game against his former team since being waived by Pittsburgh last season, each had two assists.
Binnington entered the game with a 0.92 goals-against average and a .969 save percentage. He evened his career record against Pittsburgh to 3-3-1.
Evgeni Malkin and Radim Zohorna scored and Tristan Jarry made 17 saves for the Penguins, who dropped both games on a brief road trip.
The Blues took control with two goals 1:33 apart in the second period. Neighbours snapped a 1-all tie for the Blues at 5:39 as Kapanen made a nifty move around a defender and passed to him for the tap-in. Parayko made it 3-1 at 7:12, seconds after Jarry robbed Alexi Toropchenko of a goal. Toropchenko gathered the puck and fed it to Parayko who unleashed a booming slap shot through traffic.
Saad scored his second with 4:47 left in the third, right after Binnington made a couple of pad saves as Pittsburgh pushed to get back into the game.
Zohorna, making his season debut, scored 74 seconds later to pull the Penguins back within two.
Saad’s first goal of the year gave the Blues a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. It was the first time the Blues scored first or even led in a game this season, snapping a string of 199 minutes, 33 seconds of either being tied or losing. It was also the first time St. Louis scored in the opening period through their first four games.
Malkin tied it with just 3.7 seconds left in the first. Kris Letang’s clearing pass at the end of a penalty kill found the tape of Malkin’s stick as he was leaving the box, springing him on a breakaway and allowing him to pick the top right corner for his fourth goal in Pittsburgh’s first five games.
ICE CHIPS
Blues prospect Dalibor Dvorsky scored a power-play goal in his Ontario Hockey League debut on Friday night for Sudbury after he was released from his Swedish Hockey League contract earlier in the week. The Blues selected Dvorsky with the No. 10 pick in the first round of this year’s draft. ... Penguins D Ryan Shea made his NHL debut.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blues: LW Pavel Buchnevich (upper body) remains day to day. He participated in the morning skate for the first time since suffering the injury in the first period of last Saturday’s game against Seattle.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Host Dallas on Tuesday night.
Blues: At Winnipeg on Tuesday night.
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