Thomas' OT goal lifts Blues past Penguins, to 11th straight win

ST. LOUIS – Robert Thomas scored at 2:12 of overtime, and the St. Louis Blues tied a franchise record with their 11th straight win, 5-4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The streak matches the 2018-19 Stanley Cup-winning team that won 11 in a row from Jan. 23-Feb. 19, 2019.

“It’s been a fun ride,” said Thomas, who also had an assist. “We’ve beaten some really good teams and we’re playing really good hockey. We just got to consistently be there every single night and that’s what makes a great team and that’s what we’re on our way to be.”

Thomas scored on the power play after Pittsburgh's Kris Letang was called for slashing, and his wrist shot from the left circle beat Tristan Jarry top shelf.

“They pressured hard and we weren’t able to beat (the Penguins’ penalty kill) early,” Thomas said. “I missed a couple good looks. We did have some good looks. … Got to find a way to do a better job early in the game but it came through at the end.”

Jake Neighbours scored twice, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, and Jimmy Snuggerud had an assist for his first NHL point in his second game for the Blues (42-28-7), who also won their 10th in a row at home and moved two points ahead of the idle Minnesota Wild for the first wild card in the Western Conference. Joel Hofer made 24 saves in winning his fifth consecutive start.

“We have won all different kinds of games, but I am not happy that we were up 4-2 in the third and we went to overtime,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “We have to close out games. We have to get better."

Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Rutger McGroarty each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (30-34-12), who have lost four of five (1-2-2). It was McGroarty's first NHL goal in his fifth game. Jarry made 14 saves.

“I thought we were really solid in the first, I thought we were really solid in the third,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “(In the second period), I just think we got away from the game that we wanted to play. … We gave up six odd-man rushes and four of them were off our puck possession where we didn’t make good decisions with the puck and we started their transition game. It’s hard to win when you do that. You’ve got to take care of the puck in the critical areas of the rink if you don’t have plays.”

Rust made it 1-0 at 3:32 of the first period when Hofer’s soft backhand rimmed around the boards and was picked off by McGroarty. Rust received the puck along the boards, skated into the high crease and tucked a forehand by Hofer.

Neighbours tied it 1-1 39 seconds into the second period on a quick shot from the low slot off a pass from Thomas.

Connor Dewar regained the lead for the Penguins at 2-1 at 4:22, stuffing a puck past Hofer at the net.

Pavel Buchnevich and Kyrou scored 1:17 apart for St. Louis. Buchnevich tied it 2-2 when he skated in off the right and lifted a backhand in on the short side, and Kyrou gave St. Louis its first lead at 3-2 at 8:05 after being sent in on a breakaway from a flip pass by Cam Fowler, beating Jarry with a quick wrist shot from the slot.

“I thought we were significantly better, I thought we skated, I thought we worked better and I thought it led to a lot of opportunities,” Montgomery said of the second period.

Neighbours made it 4-2 at 5:56 when Snuggerud burst up the right side and slid a cross-crease pass to the back post for Neighbours to tap it past Jarry.

“It was a great play by ‘Neighbs,’” Snuggerud said. “He used a lot of speed, chipped it to me and I happened to find him backdoor and he buried it.”

Rakell's power-play goal at 11:15 cut the lead to 4-3, a quick wrist shot off a pass from Sidney Crosby, who extended his point streak to 11 games (16 points; eight goals, eight assists).

McGroarty tied it 4-4 at 19:35 when the Penguins had Jarry pulled, and McGroarty scored from the low slot off a feed from Ville Koivunen.

“It was pretty cool, especially at that point in the game,” McGroarty said. “Against a team like that and how hot they are, it was pretty cool for Ville and I to do that on the same goal. We might have to split the puck in half, I’m not sure, but obviously the outcome (stinks). It happens. It’s hockey and we’ll get back at it on Saturday.”

St. Louis lost Dylan Holloway with a lower-body injury in the first period. The forward was checked in the offensive zone by McGroarty at 17:09, took another shift after the 18:46 mark but did not return. Montgomery said there would be an update on Friday.

NOTES: The Blues matched the Winnipeg Jets (Jan. 22-Feb. 26) for the longest winning streak in the NHL this season. … Thomas extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, 12 assists). … Kyrou has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) the past 11 games. … Rakell has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) his past 15 games. … Jarry lost for only the second time in his career against St. Louis (7-1-1).