ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pavel Buchnevich scored a wrap-around goal 53 seconds into overtime and the St. Louis Blues beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 Tuesday night.
The Blues earned a split in their back-to-back with Florida. Both games went to overtime.
Brandon Saad’s tip of Ivan Barbashev's shot broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Blues their first lead of the game with 13:12 left in the third period.
Jonathan Huberdeau’s goal for the Panthers with 5:32 left tied it for the third time.
Blues goalie Ville Husso left the game after Huberdeau’s goal, with Charlie Lindgren making his St. Louis debut in relief. No immediate explanation for Husso’s departure was given.
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Blues. Husso made 34 saves.
Aleksander Barkov and Brandon Montour also scored for the Panthers, while Maxim Mamin and Carter Verhaeghe each had two assists. Spencer Knight made 26 saves as Florida had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Barkov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 6:49 mark of the first period, tucking in a perfect feed from Mamin on an odd-man rush.
Husso was the lone bright spot for St. Louis in an opening period dominated by Florida. One game after making 48 saves, a league high this season, Husso made 19 saves as the Panthers outshot St. Louis 20-5.
The Blues capitalized on their first sustained pressure of the game as Tarasenko buried a wrist shot from the right circle to even the game at 1 at the 4:20 mark of the second period.
It took the Panthers just 52 seconds to answer as Montour's shot found its way through traffic and into the upper right corner.
Schenn’s power-play goal with 6:26 left in the second drew the Blues even once again.
WELCOME BACK
Barkov (lower body) returned after missing eight games following a knee-on-knee collision during a 6-1 win over the Islanders on Nov. 16. Barkov, the team’s captain, had 17 points in 15 games before the injury.
NUMBERS GAME
Blues F Robert Thomas (lower body) was scratched, joining a growing list of notable performers who are unavailable including F David Perron (upper body), F James Neal (upper body) and C Klim Kostin (upper body), while C Tyler Bozak, G Jordan Binnington and D Justin Faulk are each in COVID-19 protocol.
Due to salary cap restraints, the Blues are unable to call up another player, meaning they where a skater short going with 10 forwards and seven defensemen.
UP NEXT
Panthers: travel to Arizona on Friday.
Blues: host Detroit on Thursday.
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