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ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou had two goals and an assist, Colton Parayko scored the game-winner and the St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 Friday night.
Jake Walman and Brayden Schenn also scored, and Ville Husso had 35 saves for St. Louis to improve to 10-1-1 since the start of 2022 — and 9-1-0 at home.
Kyle Okposo, Dylan Cozens and Tage Thompson scored for Buffalo, which has lost five straight while getting outscored 24-10.
Parayko gave the Blues the lead for good at 4-3 on a wrist shot with 6:03 left in the third period.
Schenn added an empty-net goal with 33 seconds to go.
Thompson's power-play goal tied the score 3-3 with 7:26 remaining in the third with his 21st goal of the season. Thompson was drafted in the first round by the Blues and played his rookie season in St. Louis before he was traded to Buffalo in 2018 for Ryan O’Reilly.
Cozens gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead 1:25 into the game. A turnover by Robert Thomas allowed Buffalo to keep the puck in its zone. Husso didn’t control a rebound of a shot by Rasmus Asplund and Cozens’ shot trickled through Husso.
The Blues responded with two goals by Kyrou. St. Louis tied it on a power-play goal as David Perron passed to Kyrou in the left circle and he one-timed the puck by goalie Dustin Tokarski at 7:06. Buffalo had successfully killed off its previous 12 penalties and had not allowed a power-play goal in any of its previous six contests.
Parked in the slot, Kyrou scored on a deft redirection of a shot by Justin Faulk, who also had an assist on the first goal, with 5:37 left in the first. It was his 20th of the season. Kyrou has 22 points his past 20 games with 11 goals and 11 assists.
The Sabres tied the game 2-2 when Okposo tipped a shot by Rasmus Dahlin at 3:47 of the second.
The Blues got it back when Walman scored on a rebound with 35 seconds remaining in the period. Brandon Saad carried the puck in but goalie Dustin Tokarski, who had 18 saves overall, made a dazzling stop but Walman pounced on the loose puck for the goal.
NEW BLUES FAMILY MEMBER
Schenn missed practice Thursday due to the birth of his son, Huxley Michael Schenn, who arrived Wednesday.
ICE CHIPS
The Blues have won nine in a row at home against the Sabres, outscoring them 34-14 in that stretch. ... St. Louis has scored four or more goals in six of its last seven home games. The Blues are 14-3-0 this season when scoring four or more at home. ... Buffalo RW Victor Olofsson (illness) returned to play Friday. He missed Wednesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens due to a non-COVID-19 illness. ... Blues D Scott Perunovich (upper body), who last played Jan. 15, remains at AHL Springfield on a conditioning assignment. He has been in three games, scoring one assist.
INJURIES
Sabres: LW Zemgus Girgensons (undisclosed) and RW Jack Quinn (lower body) remain out.
Blues: C Oskar Sundqvist sustained a lower body injury in the first period. He did not return. ... D Marco Scandella (lower body) skated Friday in the optional morning skate and is close to returning to play.
UP NEXT
Buffalo: At Dallas on Sunday afternoon.
St. Louis: At Chicago on Sunday afternoon.
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