The St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-2

MONTREAL – The St. Louis Blues celebrated the Super Bowl on Sunday by scoring against the Montreal Canadiens.

Jordan Kirou scored twice and Torey Krug had five assists as the Blues routed the Canadians in a convincing 7-2 loss at the Bell Centre.

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

Thomas added a goal and three assists, while Jake Neighbors had a goal, an assist and a rebound – also known as the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick.”

Colton Parayko, Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker also scored for St.Louis (28-21-2), and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.

The Blues have won seven of their last eight games to move two points ahead of Nashville for the final wild card in the Western Conference.

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

Nick Suzuki and Joel Armia scored for Montreal (21-23-8), while Jake Allen stopped 29 shots.

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 that went against us, but that's no excuse.”

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

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

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 to the net and beat Allen for the crucial goal.

Parayko gave the visitors a 2-0 lead at 5:05 in the first game.

Seconds later, Blues forward Sammy Blais took a hard hit on defenseman Jordan Harris that appeared to land close to his head as he tumbled down the end boards.

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

The Canadians got on the board after a five-minute power play when Juraj Slafkowski set up Suzuki at 10:23. 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 head coach Drew Bannister made it clear he wanted to put someone in the box after the penalty, 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 anything like that before.”

Kiru scored a power play goal at 15:20 of the first. Walker took the lead with 2:11 left in the second.

Thomas scored a power play goal with 31 seconds left in the third.

Army managed to get one back to Montreal at 3:06, but Neighbors put up another power play marker at 7:14.

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

Kiru made it 7-2 with a jumper off the end boards and off Allen, who had a forgotten afternoon against his former team.

With a minute left, the Canadians started scoring. However, Neighbors and Jonathan Kovacevic dropped the gloves when the puck crossed the line. Officials decided after an investigation that there would be no purpose.

INSULT TO INJURY

The Canadians announced that 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, meanwhile, 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.

“On the script, what was it, 6-2 at the time?” said defenseman Mike Matheson. “Just a minute left, does this guy have to take it to the board like that? I do not know.”

NEXT UP

Blues: Complete a three-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

Canadiens: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday to end a three-game homestand.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 11, 2024.

Daniel Rainbird, Canadian Press