CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Neighbours, Pavel Buchnevich and Kevin Hayes scored in the first period, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday.
Neighbours also scored in the third and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves as St. Louis bounced back nicely after losing 8-3 to Nashville on Friday. Binnington went the distance in his sixth win after the Blues used two goaltenders in their previous two games and three of their last five overall.
Chicago lost for the sixth time in seven games. It was coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over Toronto on Friday, but it remains in search of its first win streak this season.
Ryan Donato and Boris Katchouk scored for the Blackhawks, and Arvid Soderblom made 24 stops.
Chicago got off to a sleepy start, and St. Louis took advantage.
Neighbours got free for a breakaway and held off Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski before slipping a backhand past Soderblom on the goaltender's glove side at 3:21. It was Neighbours' fourth goal in five games and No. 6 on the season.
Hayes made it 2-0 when he sent a wrist shot from the left circle over Soderblom's right shoulder at 5:27.
After Donato got Chicago on the board, redirecting an Isaak Phillips' shot past Binnington at 14:45, St. Louis responded with a rare power-play goal. Standing on the side of the net, Buchnevich knocked home a slick, no-look pass by Robert Thomas for a 3-1 lead with 2:58 left in the first.
The Blues were 5 for 59 with the man advantage this season coming into the day, ranking 31st in the NHL at 8.5%.
The Blackhawks pressed hard in the first part of the third period but came up empty and Neighbours made it 4-1 with 6:08 left. Korchinski turned the puck over behind the net and Buchnevich found Neighbours in front.
UP NEXT
Blues: At the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.
Blackhawks: Host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
