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Allen makes 35 saves, Blues beat Oilers 2-1

Dec 18, 2019 | 9:36 PM

ST. LOUIS — Brayden Schenn scored, Jake Allen made 35 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Mackenzie MacEachern also scored for the Stanley Cup champion Blues, who won their fourth straight.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and Mikko Koskinen stopped 42 shots for the Oilers, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

Edmonton went 0 for 3 on the power play, snapping an eight-game scoring streak with the man advantage.

Schenn’s 15th goal of the season gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at the 8:04 mark of the second period. Vince Dunn’s outlet pass sprung Schenn on a breakaway and he beat Koskinen with a shot to the upper right corner.

The goal gave Schenn 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 17 career games against the Oilers. He is one point away from 400 in his career.

Robert Thomas came close to adding to the Blues’ lead late in the second, but his shot on a power play hit the post.

MacEachern gave the Blues some breathing room, burying Ryan O’Reilly’s perfect backhand feed from behind the Oilers net at 6:23 of the third.

Nugent-Hopkins scored with 1:50 left. The Blues unsuccessfully challenged, claiming Zack Kassian interfered with Allen.

Both teams had several quality opportunities in a scoreless first period that featured 25 total shots.

Troy Brouwer rang one off the crossbar for the Blues in the opening minutes. Allen made a tough save on Jujhar Khaira’s point-blank chance midway through the period and stopped Connor McDavid’s rebound try on a late power play.

NOTES: Oilers C Leon Draisaitl has nine points in his last eight games (five goals, four assists) and has a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists). … Blues LW Jaden Schwartz got an assist on Schenn’s goal, giving him 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 21 career games against Edmonton. … Kassian played in his 500th game. … Blues C Tyler Bozak (illness) was a late scratch and was replaced by Brouwer.

UP NEXT

Oilers: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

Blues: At the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Joe Harris, The Associated Press