Tarasenko scored with 36 seconds left in overtime, and the short-handed St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Sunday night.  Brayden Schenn scored, Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist and Joel Edmundson recorded two assists as the Blues beat the Sabres for the 10th time in their last 11 meetings. Jake Allen made 22 saves, improving to 5-1 in six career starts against Buffalo.

Tarasenko scored just his second goal in his last nine games and the Blues needed their most dynamic player to step up after the Blues played without second-leading scorer Jaden Schwartz and top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.  Both suffered lower-body injuries in the Blues’ 6-1 win at Detroit on Saturday afternoon. Schwartz was placed on injured reserve, but Pietrangelo is day-to-day.

“He will be the first to admit he’s missed more nets and hit more posts, but for me the mindset of him taking the puck to the net and scoring in tight, that’s big,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. “If he continues to do that, he won’t be stopped.”