St. Louis, MO – Chris Stewart scored the game winner 45 seconds into overtime to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday at Scottrade Center.
Kris Russell added a power-play marker and Jake Allen stopped 27-of-28 shots to help the Blues earn their third straight victory.
Saku Koivu netted the lone Anaheim goal, while Jonas Hiller posted 19 saves for the Ducks, who saw their five-game win streak come to an end.
"It didn't go our way tonight," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau admitted. "You'd like to get 96 points in a 48-game season, but sometimes it doesn't happen."
The red-hot Stewart scored a pair of goals in each of St. Louis' last two games and picked a perfect time to notch his team-leading 14th tally of the season.
A steal from Vladimir Sobotka at the St. Louis blue line early in overtime started a 3-on-2 rush into the Anaheim zone. Sobotka skated into the left circle and slid a pass toward the slot for Stewart, who waited for Hiller to make a move before lifting a backhand into the back of the net to send the Blues to victory.
"By the time (Sobotka) gave it to me, Hiller was already down and out and I went back to the backhand and put it home," Stewart said of his game winner.
Anaheim struck first late in the opening frame when Bryan Allen's blast from the left point deflected off Koivu in front and found the top corner of the net for a 1-0 lead at the 19:40 mark.
St. Louis found the equalizer while on the power play in the latter stages of the second when Vladimir Tarasenko banked a drop pass off the right boards to Russell, who rifled a one-timer from the top of the right circle that sailed past Hiller to make it 1-1 at the 12:52 mark.
The Ducks outshot the Blues 9-2 in the final frame, but Allen was able to fight off the Anaheim flurry and keep the game locked at 1-1 to force an extra session.
Game Notes
Anaheim had won three straight in the series, including both meetings this season ... Tarasenko (concussion) returned from a 10-game absence and finished with an assist in just over 13 minutes of ice time ... St. Louis finished 1- for-3 on the power play, while Anaheim failed on both of its chances with the man advantage.
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