In a night that felt like a long-awaited exhale for the Blues faithful, the St. Louis Blues clawed their way back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Monday at Enterprise Center. The victory snapped a grueling seven-game losing skid (0-5-2) for St. Louis, who improved to 4-7-2, while the Oilers slipped to 6-5-3 after a frustrating road loss.
It was a tale of resilience for the Blues, who were outshot 26-22 but found timely bounces and standout individual efforts to secure the two points. Jordan Binnington anchored the net with 24 saves on 26 shots, providing the stability his team desperately needed after dropping four of their previous five games. On the other side, Calvin Pickard made 19 stops but couldn’t stem the late rally.
The win was especially poignant with Robert Thomas returning from a four-game absence due to an upper-body injury. The center wasted no time making his presence felt, notching a goal and an assist in a performance that helped swing the momentum. “We needed it,” Blues head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame. “But I think we’re a process-oriented team… Game management was really good tonight, and belief leads to good results. For me, this was the third good hockey game in a row that we’ve played, and if we keep playing like this, we’re going to win a lot of hockey games.”
The Oilers came out flying, capitalizing on an early power play to silence the home crowd. Just eight seconds into a holding penalty on Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist—who was playing in his 500th NHL game—the visitors struck. Connor McDavid, fresh off reaching the 1,100-point milestone in his 726th career game (becoming the fourth-fastest to do so in NHL history), threaded a perfect pass from below the goal line to Jack Roslovic at the top of the crease. Roslovic tapped it home at 18:38 for the 1-0 lead. Assists went to McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who extended his hot streak to nine points (1G, 8A) over his last eight games.
Edmonton dominated the period with superior puck possession, but Binnington kept it close with several sprawling denies. Shots favored the Oilers 10-6 after one, and the Blues headed to the locker room trailing but far from defeated.
If the first period belonged to Edmonton, the second was all St. Louis. The Oilers extended their lead to 2-0 just 2:27 in, thanks to a slick 4-on-2 rush. After Colton Parayko’s shot from the right point was blocked, Andrew Mangiapane rifled a one-timer from the right circle past Binnington. McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins picked up the helpers, giving the dynamic duo two assists apiece on the night.
But the Blues refused to fold. Midway through the frame, a fortuitous carom off the boards from a missed one-timer by Edmonton’s Philip Broberg found Robert Thomas open in front. Thomas alertly banked the puck off Pickard and into the net for an unassisted tally, cutting the deficit to 2-1. “A little lucky, off the post, off the goalie and in… We’ll take it,” Thomas quipped afterward. “Sometimes you get those bounces and that was a big one.”
The momentum shift was palpable, and St. Louis capitalized on their next power play. With 3:52 remaining in the second, rookie sensation Dalibor Dvorsky—one of the Blues’ top prospects and the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft—ripped a one-timer from the right circle short side off a crisp feed from Justin Faulk. It was Dvorsky’s first NHL goal in just his fifth career game, igniting Enterprise Center. The 20-year-old dropped to one knee and pumped his fist in celebration. “Obviously, it was awesome… Great pass from Faulk there. Just tried to shoot it and I’m happy it went in,” Dvorsky said. “To be honest, I wouldn’t care if I kicked the puck in or shoot it. The first goal is the first goal.”
The period ended 2-2, with shots even at 9-9, and the Blues carrying the energy into the final frame.
The third period was a defensive chess match, with both teams trading chances but neither willing to blink. Edmonton held St. Louis to just three shots through 18 minutes, looking poised for overtime. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch echoed that sentiment: “It looked like it was going to go to overtime… It didn’t feel like we were sitting back. I thought we had a lot of push, had our chances.”
But with 1:23 left, disaster struck for Edmonton. Colton Parayko unleashed a heavy shot from the point that was partially blocked, but the rebound squirted free to Pius Suter in the slot. Suter stuffed it home for the game-winner, his unassisted dagger sending the crowd into a frenzy. “I’m seeing him teeing it up [Parayko]. He’s got a hard shot. I saw a guy I think trying to block it, so kind of was in the way of both sides. I just stayed there and hopefully the bounce and the rebound goes there,” Suter explained.
The Oilers pulled Pickard for the extra attacker but couldn’t equalize, despite a late flurry. Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm summed up the frustration: “I thought we had a good start… When they got their first one, we got on our heels a little bit… We had some glimpses [in the third], but I think we can do more.”
Mick Lite is a versatile entrepreneur, photographer, and blogger with a huge passion for Music, Sports, Movies, Food, and Gaming. He has worked as an official scorer, social media manager, and photographer for various college, semi pro, and pro sports teams, including the River City Rascals, St. Louis Attack, Missouri Monsters, St. Charles Chill, SLU Billikens, Gateway Steam, St. Louis Riversharks, and Gateway Grizzlies. Served 12 years in the USN/USAF/USN.
