Buchnevich scores twice, Blues top Flames to gain in West wild-card race

ST. LOUIS -- Pavel Buchnevich scored twice for the St. Louis Blues in a 5-3 win against the Calgary Flames at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Saad scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Blues (39-30-4), who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games. Jordan Binnington made 23 saves and had two assists.

The Blues are five points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Kings lost 4-1 at the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

"When I look at the game overall, I thought we looked physically and mentally tired with some of the plays that we were making," St. Louis coach Drew Bannister said. "They got us in trouble and not to make any excuses, but you can see it kind of going through the room and you can see the effects today with the lack of energy. We still found a way to win the hockey game and it's an important two points for us. Those are games maybe when you look back, when we struggled a few weeks back on the road, we were finding ways to lose games. We found a way to win a game here tonight."

Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice and MacKenzie Weegar had two assists for the Flames (33-34-5), who have lost five straight and have been outscored 21-9. Dustin Wolf made 14 saves.

"I thought for the entire game, I liked the way we played tonight," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. "It seems funny that the score ends up 5-3. It didn't feel like it was that type of game. We deserved a better fate here tonight."

Saad scored in his fourth straight game to give the Blues a 4-3 lead at 2:04 of the third period when Jordan Kyrou found him in the low slot for the quick shot.

"It was just a good forecheck by [Brayden Schenn]," Saad said. "They had pressure on the puck and 'Rouzy' ended up with it. I just kind of found open ice and he made a great pass to me in the slot.

"They just seem to be going in. I think the belief and how we're playing confident as a group, obviously playing with some good players there. Getting the opportunities and it's nice to finish them."

Rasmus Andersson thought he had tied it 4-4 at 2:19 on a wraparound, but the Blues challenged, and the play was deemed to be offside after video review.

Kuzmenko also had a goal waved off 1:11 into the third that would have given the Flames a 4-3 lead on a high stick.

"We made a good push," Kuzmenko said. "The play gets blown dead. Could have played on and get reviewed at least to get the right call. We let them score right after so it's on us. We let momentum swing their way. We made some good pushes but not enough."

Zack Bolduc's second NHL goal gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 13:02 of the first period on a backhand from the slot through Wolf's pads.

Kuzmenko tied it 1-1 at 14:48 after he stripped St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk from behind and beat Binnington high on the short side.

Huberdeau made it 2-1 at 18:37 when he tipped in Weegar's point shot on the power play.

Neighbours tied it 2-2 at 3:27 of the second period after finishing off a Colton Parayko right point shot, a Robert Thomas tip in front to Neighbours on the rebound.

"Set face-off play," Neighbours said. "They kind do whatever they want, I go to the net. It was a good shot. 'Tommer' got a stick on it and it bounced right to me."

Buchnevich gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead at 8:54 during the second half of a four-minute power play after Flames forward Nazem Kadriwas assessed a double minor for high-sticking Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich. It was his first goal in 14 games.

"I feel better. I wish I scored last game, but it's hockey," Buchnevich said. "We got the win today and hopefully we keep chasing playoffs."

Kuzmenko tied it 3-3 at 16:15 when he tipped in Kadri's backhand flip from the slot.

Buchnevich scored into an empty net at 18:45 of the third period for the 5-3 final.

NOTES: Saad has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. ... Kuzmenko went the previous six games he played without a point. It was his second multigoal game since he was acquired in the trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 1. ... St. Louis has won seven of its past eight games against Calgary and 11 of its past 13. ... Buchnevich has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past six games. ... Kyrou has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak. ... Neighbours has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past eight games.