Blues defeat Oilers, extend home point streak to 10

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues extended their home point streak to 10 games with a 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Enterprise Center on Wednesday.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Jordan Kyrou each had a goal and two assists, Torey Krug had two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the Blues (18-9-5), who are 9-0-1 at home since Nov. 18 and played for the first time since a 4-2 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 19.
"We [had] some time to rest. I know a lot of guys spend it with families. It gives you more positive emotions," Tarasenko said.
"When you play against one of the best players in the league, it's always big competition. It was important for us. We don't play at home for a while; next couple games are away games. But we prepared well for the game, work together. It's nice to get a win when you don't play for a while here."
The Blues next play the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN1, TVAS, NHL LIVE).

Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard scored, and Mike Smith made 29 saves for the Oilers (18-12-0). It was the goalie's first game since Oct. 19 after missing 26 with an ankle injury.
Edmonton was playing for the first time since a 5-3 win at the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 18. Coach Dave Tippett returned after missing three games in NHL COVID-19 protocol.
"We made a couple mistakes early, got behind early, and chased the game," Tippett said. "We were around a little bit but turned over a lot of pucks and wound up chasing. When you've been off 11 days, that's not an ideal situation."
Robert Thomas gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 4:03 of the first period finishing a 2-on-0 with Tarasenko. Thomas returned after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.
Kyrou made it 2-0 in his first game after missing four with an upper-body injury. The forward cut around Oilers defenseman Dmitri Samorukov inside the blue line before beating Smith with a wrist shot to the glove hand at 6:59.
"'Vladi' gave me a nice pass cross ice and I saw [Thomas] coming on the far side, so I wanted to cut to the middle," Kyrou said. "I kind of saw his feet kind of stutter a bit, so I just made a little fake like I was going to go to the inside, and I went to the outside and kind of caught [Smith]."

Draisaitl made it 2-1 32 seconds later with a wrist shot from the high slot after cutting in off the right wall. Bouchard tied it 2-2 at 11:49 of the second period on a shot from inside the right circle through a screen.
"I thought we did some things right," Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "Overall, we just gave them too many good opportunities and 'Smitty' had to make some big saves."
Tarasenko gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 15:46, set up by Kyrou through the middle of the ice before going from his backhand to his forehand to score over Smith's blocker.
"Just drive the middle and Kyrou] make a little play, kind of a small breakaway," Tarasenko said. "I don't know what to say. 'Rouzie' made a nice pass, [
[Justin Faulk
] made a nice pass to Rouzie. Guys creating a chance for me and I was lucky enough to score."
Brandon Saad's power-play goal 16 seconds into the third period, a rebound off a David Perron one-timer from the left circle, made it 4-2.
NOTES:Oilers forward Zach Hyman played 21:16 after missing three games with a shoulder injury. ... Draisaitl is the first Oilers player to score 24 goals within the first 30 games since Wayne Gretzky scored 25 in 1987-88. ... Samorukov played 2:28 and was a minus-2 in his NHL debut. ... Blues coach Craig Berube became the seventh NHL coach with 200 wins and 1,000 games played, joining Randy Carlyle (475; 1,055), Bob Pulford (360; 1,079), Craig MacTavish (301; 1,093), Red Kelly (278; 1,316), Brent Sutter (215; 1,111) and Larry Robinson (209; 1,384). ... Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich was a late scratch with a non-COVID related illness and is considered day to day. ... Perron had an assist and played 21:21 after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury.