Schenn scores twice, has assist to help Blues beat Oilers

Associated Press

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Being traded to the St. Louis Blues has worked out very well for Brayden Schenn thus far.

Schenn had two goals and an assist and the Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Thursday night to end a two-game skid.

The 26-year-old center is having a career year since being traded last summer from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Blues, with 25 points through 20 games.

“I’ve got a good opportunity to play with good players in all situations,” said Schenn, whose previous best season was in 2015-2016, when he had 59 points in 80 games. “Whether the Blues are more my style of hockey or whatever, it has been a lot of fun so far. We have a good team here, and it’s been fun being a part of this organization. I’ve got a lot of confidence right now.”

Vladimir Sobotka and Alexander Steen also scored for the Blues, who improved to 14-5-1 with the win in a physical matchup. Jake Allen made 29 saves.

“I thought we played a mature game and controlled our emotions well,” Steen said. “It’s easy to get carried away when things are getting ramped up, but I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure and sticking to the game plan.”

Ryan Strome scored for the Oilers, who have lost three of four. Cam Talbot turned away 35 shots.

“They were better than us in a lot of areas tonight,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “It was spread out amongst the team. It was a team loss tonight, we just didn’t play well.”

The Blues caught a break to start the scoring with 4:46 left in the first period. Talbot flubbed a clearing attempt, and it popped in front of the net, enabling Sobotka to get a short-handed goal.

Edmonton got the goal back on the same power play 29 seconds later when Strome’s wrist shot beat Allen up high.

St. Louis regained the lead on the power play seven minutes into the second period when Steen whacked in a rebound during a scramble in the crease.

The Blues took a 3-1 lead six minutes into the third when Schenn elected to shoot on a 2-on-1 break, scoring his sixth goal of the season.

Schenn got his second goal of the game a couple of minutes later when he was left alone at the side of the net and had an open net to shoot at before Talbot could get across.

NOTES: It was the first meeting of the season between the two teams, who will play again on Tuesday in St. Louis. ... F Mike Cammalleri played his first game with the Oilers after being acquired from the Kings on Tuesday in a deal for Jussi Jokinen. Thursday marked 15 years to the day that Cammalleri scored his first NHL goal, in Edmonton against the Oilers.

UP NEXT

Blues: At Vancouver on Saturday night.

Oilers: At Dallas on Saturday.