St. Louis Blues Paul Stastny levels Montreal Canadiens Torrey Mitchell, taking linesman Mark Wheler with them in the first period at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on December 6, 2016. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The Blues had nothing going against the Montreal Canadiens, who were playing their first game without their leading scorer and they sat their star goaltender Carey Price. Down 2-0 in the third period, coach Ken Hitchcock was looking for a spark and put Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny together on the same line and it worked. Schwartz scored twice, including the game-winning goal with 1:22 left in overtime to give the Blues a 3-2 win over Montreal at Scottrade Center on Tuesday.
“I was trying a lot of stuff once it wasn’t working, and then I saw some things in the second period I liked,” Hitchcock said. “A couple shifts and after the first three minutes … they had a great shift with about five minutes gone in the third period and I just stuck on those lines.”
Schwartz had three points and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for St. Louis. Jake Allen made 28 saves and is 8-0-0 in his past eight starts; he’s 10-0-2 at home this season. The Blues have points in 13 straight home games (10-0-3) and are 12-1-3 at Scottrade Center.