Kieru scored twice, Krug had 5 assists as the Blues beat Canada 7-2

MONTREAL (AP) — Jordan Kirou scored twice, Torey Krug had five assists and the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-2 on Sunday.

Robert Thomas had one goal and three assists for St.Louis, Jake Neighbors had one goal and one assist, and Colton Parayko, Alexei Toropchenko and Nathan Walker also scored. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves for the Blues.

“It's funny how it happened,” Thomas said. “This is the second time we've taken seven, so it's always fun and everyone leaves the rink happy.”

St. Louis has won seven of its last eight games.

“We're really coming together as a team on the ice,” Kyrou said. “We've all had a bit of a commotion.”

Nick Suzuki and Joel Armia scored for Montreal, while Jake Allen stopped 29 shots. Suzuki extended his point streak to seven games, while teammate Cole Caufield's 11-game streak ended.

The Canadiens dropped to 1-9-0 in their second straight matchup this season after Saturday's 3-2 loss to Dallas.

“It's never fun running out of a building, especially yours,” quarterback Jayden Struble said. “I thought there were a lot of bad shots against us, but that's no excuse.”

Krug said he can't remember ever scoring five goals in one game, whether in NHL, college or minor hockey.

“It's a game I'll always remember,” he said. “I love playing in this building, it's my favorite building to play in the league.”

The Blues were 3-for-5 on the power play. The Canadiens were 0-for-3.

St. Louis took an early lead and never looked back.

With just 25 seconds left in the game, Toropchenko dribbled down Struble's right wing with a dunk between his legs, cut across the net and beat Allen for the crucial goal.

Parayko put the Blues up 2-0 with a shot off the post and into the net with 5:05 left in the first period.

Seconds later, Blues forward Sammy Blais took a hard hit on defenseman Jordan Harris, who went down with the end boards and appeared to land on his head.

Harris also hit his head on the ice and was unable to get up after the incident and needed help to get off the ice. The Canadiens said he will not return due to an upper body injury.

Blaise, meanwhile, received a five-minute major for boarding and foul play.

The Canadians didn't make the Blues pay until five minutes into the power play, with Juraj Slafkowski setting up Suzuki with an open net at 10:23 off a cross-ice pass.

Montreal's 5-on-4 advantage was extended for a few seconds, but St. Louis had no one to take down in the penalty box.

Blues coach Drew Bannister made it clear that he wanted to put someone in the penalty area later, but the whistle was not blown.

“Guys were yelling for a whistle, but I didn't know why,” Binnington said. “Then I knew we didn't have a guy in the box. I've never seen that before.”

Kiru scored a power play goal at 15:20 of the first to give St. Louis a 3-1 halftime lead. Walker scored 2:11 into the period to put the Blues up three.

Thomas extended that lead with a power play goal just 31 seconds into the third.

Army was able to get one back on Montreal with a deflection at 3:06, but the Neighbors scored on another power play at 7:14 to take a four-goal St.Louis lead.

“We have to be careful,” Suzuki said of Montreal's penalties. “We can't give that much exposure to this power play.”

Kieru made it 7-2 and took a shot off the edge of the net and over Allen's goal.

INJURIES

The Canadiens said forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard will be out for four to six weeks. Harvey-Pinard left Saturday's game against the Dallas Stars after spraining his knee in a collision with Army in the neutral zone early in the second period.

Harris is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Montreal defenseman Kayden Goulet also hurt his left hand in the final minutes after being hit by Marco Scandella. The Canadians said it is still being evaluated.

“Just scripted, what was it, 6-2 at the time?” defense attorney Mike Matheson said. “One minute and a bit left, does this guy really have to take it to the board like that? I do not know.”

NEXT UP

Blues: Tuesday at Toronto.

Canadiens: Host Anaheim on Tuesday.

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