Early in the third, ex-Cap Zach Sanford scored a power play goal with a strong individual effort, cutting out of the right-wing corner straight to the net, and tucking the puck into the short side corner with a precision wrister at 2:05. That goal restored the St. Louis lead at 2-1.
The two sides traded power play chances in the third, giving Panik the chance to tie it and setting the stage for Backstrom's whacky winner.
"You want to win; we all want to win," says Blues coach Craig Berube. "It's unfortunate. I thought our guys were doing a good job killing that penalty, and it goes off the back end, right to the guy, and he puts it in.
"It's two unfortunate bounces, I guess, is the way you put it. But overall, we're pretty pleased. I think our guys played against a pretty good lineup over there tonight, and they competed hard."