Schenn gets 3 points, Blues hold off Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Brayden Schenn had two goals and an assist for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Sunday.

“He’s a super fun guy to play with,” Blues forward Dylan Holloway said about Schenn. “We’re always talking, off the ice, on the bench. He’s really predictable to read off of and he’s so strong on the puck, he always makes good plays. He made a (heck) of a pass to me there and I just tried to return the favor for him.”

Holloway scored and had two assists, and Pavel Buchnevich had a goal for St. Louis (11-12-7), which has won four of six, including a 2-1 win at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Jordan Binnington made 23 saves.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing with (Holloway) because he’s hard, he’s physical, he plays the right way,” Schenn said. “He plays with an edge and he can see the ice and shoot the puck. So he’s a special player and he’s going to be a good player for a long time in this League.”

Noah Dobson had a goal and an assist, and Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson each scored for Montreal (15-10-3), which had won two straight.

Jakub Dobes made 14 saves in his second of back-to-back starts for the Canadiens with Sam Montembeault ill and unavailable to play. Dobes made 22 saves and turned aside two of three Toronto Maple Leafs shooters in a 2-1 shootout win Saturday.

“I felt good,” Dobes said. “The legs were fine, the mind is probably the one part that gets overused the most. But I felt pretty decent. I felt like I made pretty good reads, maybe one mistake on the third goal, but everyone makes mistakes, so it happens.”

Schenn gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:57 of the first period. Cam Fowler's point shot was deflected in the slot by Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson directly to Schenn, who buried it from the bottom of the right face-off circle.

Hutson evened it 1-1 at 12:20 when he snuck behind the defense and went forehand-backhand for the finish around Binnington's left pad. Montreal forward Jared Davidson got the secondary assist on the goal for his first NHL point in his eighth game.

Caufield put the Canadiens up 2-1 lead at 19:03, snapping a one-timer past Binnington blocker side from low in the right face-off circle. With the goal, Caufield matched his career-long point streak of 11 games (also Jan. 11-Feb. 4, 2024). It's the longest active streak in the NHL, with Caufield scoring 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in that span.

The Blues scored two goals 39 seconds apart in the opening 1:05 of the second period to take their second lead of the game.

“That first intermission we were talking and we wanted to come out with a big start,” Holloway said. “It was huge for us to get two goals right away, kind of get our juices going and get our momentum back. So we kind of pounced on them and I think that was a big turning point in the game.”

Holloway tied it 2-2 just 26 seconds into the second when he took a pass from Schenn on a 2-on-1 and deked Dobes as he cut across the goalmouth and roofed a backhander.

Buchnevich put St. Louis back in front 3-2 at 1:05, scoring with a snap shot blocker side on Robert Thomas’ pass from below the goal line.

“It’s not rocket science, really,” Matheson said. “It’s two breakdowns that led to two quick goals and that was the difference.”

Schenn made it 4-2 with his second goal at 10:24 of the third period when he scored on a one-timer from the right circle side on a cross-slot feed from Holloway.

Dobson cut the deficit to 4-3 at 16:15 when his one-timer from just above the left circle fluttered past Binnington into the top right corner.

Binnington denied Caufield's attempt from in tight to tie the game at the buzzer with a last-second left pad save.

“Binnington is such a winner,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “It doesn’t matter the stage, he always has the ability to bounce back because of his mental toughness, his belief in himself. He was outstanding tonight.”

NOTES: The goals by Holloway and Buchnevich were the fastest pair from the start of a period by St. Louis since Jan. 30, 2021, when Jordan Kyrou and Zach Sanford scored to give the Blues a 2-0 lead 57 seconds into a 6-1 win at the Anaheim Ducks. … Blues forward Jordan Kyrou did not play. He is day to day after sustaining an upper-body injury Saturday. … Forward Matt Luff had blocked two shots and was minus-1 in 8:33 of ice time in his Blues debut. … Kaapo Kahkonen backed up Dobes after he was recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League on Sunday. He was reassigned to Laval after the game.