McAvoy, Bruins defeat Blues in OT, extend point streak to 5

ST. LOUIS -- Charlie McAvoy scored his second goal of the game at 1:10 of overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

McAvoy scored on a wrist shot from the right circle after stealing the puck from Blues forward Robert Thomas in the neutral zone.

Boston extended its point streak to five games (2-0-3) despite losing its past three. 

"This felt good," McAvoy said. "Points in every game sounds good, but it was kind of disheartening losing three overtimes in a row. Tonight, we blow a lead and go into overtime again. But it all worked out."

Brad Marchand scored twice, and Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves for the Bruins (25-8-9).

"We felt good about our game even though they clawed back," said Marchand, the Boston captain. "I thought we dropped the ball a couple of times. We were confident. We felt good about the situation we were in. We kind of had that desperation and confidence tonight that allowed us to persevere."

Jake Neighbours and Oskar Sundqvist scored power-play goals, and Jordan Binnington made 31 saves for the Blues (21-18-2), who had won three of four.

"We battled back," St. Louis forward Kevin Hayes said. "We were down, our power play was great tonight, got a point, but yeah, definitely a tough way to lose."

Marchand put Boston ahead 1-0 at 5:02 of the first period when he pulled a loose puck from below the goal line and lifted it near side over Binnington.

Hayes tied it 1-1 at 6:07 with a one-timer off a pass by Kasperi Kapanen from behind the net.

"I kind of just came around the net and saw him in the slot," Kapanen said. "He's got a good shot. I think he needs to shoot the puck a little bit more maybe. Just happy he shot it there."

Hayes had a second goal overturned at 9:55 when the Bruins successfully challenged that he was offside prior to the goal.

McAvoy put the Bruins back in front 2-1 at 6:26 of the second period, shooting five-hole on Binnington after a St. Louis turnover.

Neighbours tied it 2-2 at 10:57 on the power play off a cross-crease pass by Jordan Kyrou.

Marchand's 5-on-3 power-play goal gave Boston a 3-2 lead at 7:43 of the third period.

Sundqvist tied it 3-3 at 14:47 when he tipped a Scott Perunovich shot at the top of the crease on the power play.

"Happy to be able to get one back for the team," Sundqvist said.

Boston went past regulation in all four games of its road trip, starting with a 4-3 shootout loss at the Colorado Avalanche, followed by a 4-3 overtime loss at the Arizona Coyotes and a 2-1 overtime loss at the Vegas Golden Knights.

"A nice way to end it," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "We were more aggressive in the 3-on-3. I really liked the last two periods both offensively and defensively."

NOTES: Marchand’s first goal was his 900th career NHL point. ... McAvoy (six) passed Ray Bourque (five) for most overtime goals by a Bruins defenseman. ... Boston forward Pavel Zacha was scratched due to illness. ... On Saturday, Swayman was one of 12 players voted by fans to the NHL All-Star Game Feb. 1-3 in Toronto. ... St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk was minus-2 in 18:36 of ice time after missing five games with a lower-body injury. … Kyrou had two shots on goal and tied Vladimir Tarasenko for the franchise record for consecutive games with a shot (135).