Pastrnak Scores But Bruins Fall to Blues

BOSTON -- Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and two assists for the St. Louis Blues in a 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday.

Kevin Hayes and Brandon Saad each had a goal and an assist, and Joel Hofer made 36 saves for St. Louis (33-29-3), which ended a three-game losing streak and finished a five-game road trip 2-3-0.

“We were working in the right direction to accomplish what we had to do here tonight,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “A lot from goaltending out to our forwards, we didn’t have any passengers. Everybody played well here tonight. [Hofer] had to make some big saves for us. He played outstanding. Our penalty kill was outstanding here tonight, and our power play was able to score. So, all assets of the game, guys were contributing.”

David Pastrnak scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 17 saves for Boston (38-14-15), which had its four-game point streak end (3-0-1).

“I didn’t like our start,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I didn’t think we had the intensity that’s required in this league to start games on time. ... We created a lot of good scoring chances. We missed the net, they blocked shots. Their desperation probably was, defensively, a little bit higher than ours.”

Kapanen gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 10:13 of the first period. Torey Krug's attempted pass around the boards caromed off a stanchion into the low slot, where Kapanen beat Swayman blocker side.

“It was just going in today,” Kapanen said. “Just happy to see. I feel like it hasn’t really been bouncing, necessarily, the way I wanted this year, so just having a game like this, it really feels good.”

Robert Thomas made it 2-0 at 17:59, taking a return pass from Pavel Buchnevich and scoring with a one-timer from the top of the right circle during a 5-on-3 power play. It was his 21st goal of the season, an NHL career high.

Hayes pushed it to 3-0 at 4:31 of the second period, burying a pass from Kapanen five-hole on a 3-on-1 rush.

Justin Brazeau appeared to score for Boston at 11:11 on a shot that floated up and landed behind Hofer, but St. Louis challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.

“I thought we had a lot of chances,” Brazeau said. “Obviously, they didn’t go in for us and they went in for them. We’ve played a lot of games here recently, so I think it’s just one of those things where we got two more days of practice and just kind of reset.”

Saad then extended the lead to 4-0 at 15:25. He got inside position on Kevin Shattenkirk and jammed in a backdoor pass from Hayes that hit off his skate and the right post.

Pastrnak cut it to 4-1 at 1:48 of the third period with a one-timer through traffic from the point.

“I think it was [a] slow start. I don’t think we were engaged there,” Bruins forward Pavel Zacha said. “I think we started playing good in the second half, which in the NHL is not good enough against any team, so that’s something that we have to get better at.”

Alexey Toropchenko made it 5-1 at 11:27 with an empty-net goal.

“Obviously, we’d like to get a couple more wins in the road trip, but this is a big win for our club,” Hofer said. “It’s obviously a good team over there, so hopefully we can keep this going [at] home.”

NOTES: The Blues scored five goals as a visitor against the Bruins for the first time since March 7, 1991 (a 5-5 tie). ... Kapanen’s three points tied his NHL career high. ... Zacha had the secondary assist on Pastrnak’s goal to extend his point streak to five games (five goals, three assists).