Thomas' OT goal lifts Blues past Penguins, to 11th straight win

ST. LOUIS – Robert Thomas scored at 2:12 of overtime, and the St. Louis Blues tied a franchise record with their 11th straight win, 5-4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The Blues previously won 11 in a row from Jan. 23-Feb. 19, 2019, the season they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

“It’s been a fun ride,” said Thomas, who also had an assist. “We’ve beaten some really good teams and we’re playing really good hockey. We just got to consistently be there every single night and that’s what makes a great team and that’s what we’re on our way to be.”

Thomas scored on the power play after Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang was penalized for slashing, with his wrist shot from the left circle beating Tristan Jarry top shelf.

“They pressured hard and we weren’t able to beat (the Penguins’ penalty kill) early,” Thomas said. “I missed a couple good looks. We did have some good looks. … Got to find a way to do a better job early in the game but it came through at the end.”

Jake Neighbours scored twice, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, and Jimmy Snuggerud had an assist for his first NHL point in his second game for the Blues (42-28-7), who also won their 10th in a row at home and moved two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs the Western Conference. Joel Hofer made 24 saves.

“We have won all different kinds of games, but I am not happy that we were up 4-2 in the third and we went to overtime,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “We have to close out games. We have to get better."

Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Rutger McGroarty each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (30-34-12), who have lost four of five (1-2-2). Jarry made 14 saves.

“I thought we were really solid in the first, I thought we were really solid in the third,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “(In the second period), I just think we got away from the game that we wanted to play. … We gave up six odd-man rushes and four of them were off our puck possession where we didn’t make good decisions with the puck and we started their transition game. It’s hard to win when you do that. You’ve got to take care of the puck in the critical areas of the rink if you don’t have plays.”

Rust made it 1-0 at 3:32 of the first period when Hofer’s soft backhand rimmed around the boards and was picked off by McGroarty. Rust received the puck along the boards, skated into the high crease and tucked a forehand by Hofer.

Neighbours tied it 1-1 at 39 seconds of the second period on a quick shot from the low slot off a pass from Thomas.

Connor Dewar responded for the Penguins to make it 2-1 at 4:22, stuffing a puck past Hofer at the net.

Pavel Buchnevich and Kyrou scored 1:17 apart for St. Louis.

Buchnevich tied it 2-2 when he skated in off the right and lifted a backhand in on the short side. Kyrou then gave St. Louis its first lead at 3-2 at 8:05, skating into a flip pass by Cam Fowler and beating Jarry with a quick wrist shot from the slot on a breakaway.

“I thought we were significantly better, I thought we skated, I thought we worked better and I thought it led to a lot of opportunities,” Montgomery said of the second period.

Neighbours made it 4-2 at 5:56. Snuggerud burst up the right side and slid a cross-crease pass to the back post for Neighbours to tap past Jarry.

“It was a great play by ‘Neighbs,’” Snuggerud said. “He used a lot of speed, chipped it to me and I happened to find him backdoor and he buried it.”

Rakell cut the lead to 4-3 at 11:15 with a power-play goal, scoring with a quick wrist shot off a pass from Sidney Crosby, who extended his point streak to 11 games (eight goals, eight assists).

McGroarty tied it 4-4 at 19:35 with Jarry pulled for the extra attacker. McGroarty scored from the low slot off a feed from Ville Koivunen for his first NHL goal (fifth game).

“It was pretty cool, especially at that point in the game,” McGroarty said. “Against a team like that and how hot they are, it was pretty cool for Ville and I to do that on the same goal. We might have to split the puck in half, I’m not sure, but obviously the outcome (stinks). It happens. It’s hockey and we’ll get back at it on Saturday.”

St. Louis forward Dylan Holloway sustained a lower-body injury in the first period. The forward was checked in the offensive zone by McGroarty at 17:09 and took another shift after the 18:46 mark but did not return. Montgomery said there would be an update on Friday.

NOTES: The Blues matched the Winnipeg Jets (Jan. 22-Feb. 26) for the longest winning streak in the NHL this season. … Thomas extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, 12 assists). … Kyrou has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) the past 11 games. … Rakell has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) his past 15 games.