ST. LOUIS _ It was a wild and crazy Thursday night at Enterprise Center. The Blues scored five times ... in the first period against Philadelphia. The teams combined for seven goals on the first 14 shots.
And those five Blues goals came in the first 9:41 of the first period, the fastest the Blues have scored five times in franchise history.
By night's end the Blues had a 7-3 victory over Philadelphia, improving to 44-28-9 on the season and 97 points. Nashville rallied to beat Vancouver, 3-2, so the Blues remain a point behind the Predators.
But the Blues' win did assure them of no worse than a third-place finish in the Central Division. Dallas can no longer catch them.
Alexander Steen scored twice, and Ryan O'Reilly matched his career high with his 28th goal. Goalie Jordan Binnington notched his 23rd victory of the season, a Blues rookie record.
After a wild first period, things calmed down in the second. But the Blues still managed to score a goal to take a 6-3 lead.
Brayden Schenn scored his 16th goal of the season with 6 minutes 54 seconds left in the second, picking up some loose change in front of the net to beat Flyers goalie Carter Hart. Hart replaced Brian Elliott four goals into the Blues' five-goal barrage in the first period.
Through two periods, 10 of the Blues' 12 forwards had at least a goal or an assist. Or some combination of both.
The St. Louis defense, which played loose and at times sloppy in the first period, calmed down in the second limiting Philadelphia to six shots.
The teams played a hockey version of a track meet in the first period. And the Blues won most of the "races."
Getting goals from, in order, Ivan Barbashev, O'Reilly, Steen, Pat Maroon, and David Perron, the Blues raced to a 5-3 lead after one period. The Blues' five-goal outburst fell just one short of the team record for most goals scored in one period.
O'Reilly's goal was his 28th, tying his personal season high. Maroon's score was his 10th, giving the Blues 12 players with at least 10 goals for only the fourth time in franchise history. The O'Reilly and Perron goals came on the power play; Steen's goal was shorthanded score, and came on a great setup by Oskar Sundqvist.
Former Blues goalie Elliott started for the Flyers, but was pulled after allowing four goals.
Philadelphia tried to keep pace, getting goals from Oskar Lindblom, James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux. Giroux's came with just 42.4 seconds left in the first period.
