ST. LOUIS _ It took Blues coach Ken Hitchcock to come to a realization: You can't go breaking up Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny.
The two had played together on a line for nine straight games, during which the Blues had unarguably had their most success of the season, winning seven of those games and losing another in overtime. On Tuesday against Montreal, Hitchcock broke them up, feeling he was going to need more balanced lines on the team's upcoming road trip, moving Schwartz on to the line centered by Alexander Steen.
But in the third period on Tuesday, with his team trailing 2-0 and needing to get goals in a hurry, Hitchcock reunited the pair and got results. The two combined for two goals in less than three minutes as the team scrambled back in the third period to tie the game and send yet another Blues' game to overtime, where Schwartz scored in overtime to win 3-2 and find two points where it looked like there would be none.
They finished a five-game homestand at 4-0-1, with four of the five games going to overtime.
The game-winner came 3:38 into overtime. The Blues took possession in front of goalie Jake Allen and turned the tables for a three-on-two against Montreal. Steen powered up the left side while Schwartz came up the right. As they entered the zone, Steen passed it to Schwartz, who backhanded it over Montreal goalie Al Montoya's glove hand to win it.
The Blues are now 3-5-1 when trailing after two periods, which isn't the easiest way to make a living but for now is keeping them high in the Western Conference standings.
The Blues had two things working for them before the puck even dropped. Montreal was without its leading scorer, Alex Galchenyuk, who was injured on Sunday, and all-world goalie Carey Price got the night off so backup Montoya could get in a game. But it took until well into the game before the Blues had any kind of an edge on the ice.
The Blues didn't lack for chances. They had four power plays _ one of them lasted only 26 seconds because of a penalty of their own _ and while they generated plenty of scoring chances off those times, they didn't generate any goals.
Finally, in the third period, things opened up. The Blues got their first goal from Stastny with 12:20 to go in the third on a nice shot from to Montoya's right that beat him high to the stick side. Less than a minute later, Dmitrij Jaskin had the puck in front of the goal but kept waiting for a spot to open in front of him and ultimately never got a shot off.
With 9:29 to go in the third, the Blues tied it up. Montoya got his glove on but couldn't hold a slap shot by Jay Bouwmeester, and the rebound fell to Stastny. He put the rebound across the crease _ whether it was a pass or a shot attempt was up for debate _ behind Montoya to Schwartz, who smacked the puck into the open net to tie it.
It was a strong finish to a successful homestand that saw the team take a 3-0-1 record into the final game.
The first period had one goal but all sorts of other things. One that could have changed the course of the entire game came with 12:12 to go in the period. Robby Fabbri stickhandled his way up ice, split Canadiens defensemen Jeff Petry and Brian Flynn, got knocked off balance and collided with Montoya, with the crook of his knee hitting Montoya's head, his skate hitting his back and both of them tumbling into the goal.
When play stopped, Montoya was lying on the ice, finally getting up slowly. He got a thorough check by a trainer and stayed in the game, which is probably what the Blues wanted rather than having Price come in.
Montreal scored with 9:54 to go in the first though it didn't put the puck in the net. Tomas Plekanec took a shot that Allen saved but couldn't keep in his glove. The puck hit Paul Byron and came into the crease where defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, retreating into the slot, hit it with his skate and went five-hole on Allen to make it 1-0.
The Blues almost got it back on a fluke goal of their own. With Stastny off for interference, David Perron went to clear the zone by putting the puck off the boards. The puck took an odd bounce off the boards and took a direct course for the Montreal goal, which was sitting vacant because Montoya had gone behind the net, expecting the puck to stay along the boards. Montoya had to scramble back into the goal to make the save.
In the second, Montreal hit the metal twice in less than a minute, with Max Pacioretty putting a shot off the post and then Shea Weber finding the crossbar. Both, though, bounced away and the Blues stayed within a goal. The Blues picked up their obligatory penalty for having too many men on the ice, and while some are the result of the puck ending up in front of the bench during a line change, this was flat out a case of six guys jumping into the play.
The Blues killed that penalty but a minute after it ended, Montreal seized on a puck in their own end and headed up ice for a two-on-one, with Byron slipping the puck past Kevin Shattenkirk to Plekanec, who backhanded the puck into the roof of the goal to make it 2-0.
