EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 23 saves for the shutout as the St. Louis Blues remained perfect on the season with a 2-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
Torey Krug and Justin Faulk scored for the Blues (3-0-0), who have had plenty of practice time with a light schedule to start the season.
The Oilers dropped to 2-3-0 on their season-starting six-game homestand.
Oilers goalie Jack Campbell had 21 saves in the loss.
St. Louis started the scoring on the power play five minutes into the opening period as Krug beat Campbell with a long blast from the point.
It could have been worse but Campbell made a big glove save to stop a breakaway by Jordan Kyrou. The goalie then in the second period stopped a point-blank shot from Brett Kulak.
Blues goalie Binnington was called on to make a huge stop of his own with three minutes left in the middle period, making a sprawling glove save on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins during a scramble in front to keep it a one-goal game.
Edmonton pressed in the third but couldn’t score on Binnington.
The Blues were able to put the game away with a minute left as Faulk lifted a shot from the corner off the faceoff that went 200 feet to the center of the empty net.
NOTES
Both teams finished with 49 wins last season and were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs. ... Since the start of last season, the Blues and Oilers have the top two power plays in the NHL. ... The Blues had nine 20-goal scorers on their roster last year, eight of whom are back with the team this year… The Blues were without Logan Brown (upper body), Marco Scandella (hip) and Scott Perunovich (shoulder), while the Oilers were missing the services of Dylan Holloway (upper body)... Former Oilers player and bench-boss Craig MacTavish coached his first game in Rogers Place, now serving as an assistant coach for the Blues. MacTavish was head coach of the Oilers from 2000 to 2009.
UP NEXT
Blues: travel to Winnipeg on Monday to close out a three-game road trip.
Oilers: host Pittsburgh to finish off the six-game homestand.
