O'Reilly scores to help Blues defeat Sabres

ST. LOUIS --Ryan O'Reilly scored a goal in his first game against his former team when the St. Louis Blues defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

O'Reilly, who was acquired in a trade from Buffalo on July 1, scored in the third period.
"It's a big game for us in general, coming off the break and trying to get back into the hunt here," O'Reilly said. "It's a big game, especially against a team like that being traded from, it always means a bit more. It feels really good to win that one.
"I talked to them a bit in the pregame skate there. It would have been nice to see them and say hello, but on the ice, you try to be all business. You try and not to talk to them as usual."
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Blues highlights]
Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist, Jay Bouwmeester and Pat Maroon scored, and Jake Allen made 30 saves for St. Louis (15-16-4), which has won five of its past seven. Alexander Steen and David Perron each had two assists.

"It's good to see," Allen said. "Sometimes it's tough to see what you're going to come out with and after four days off, not practicing, you have a heavy belly probably on you. For both teams, I think in years past, this game was a struggle for us a little bit, so it was great to see us come out with some jump and find a way to win."
Jack Eichel scored, and Carter Hutton made 28 saves for the Sabres (21-12-5), who have lost three of their past four and nine of 13 (4-6-3) since a 10-game winning streak. Hutton played the past two seasons for St. Louis before signing a three-year contract as an unrestricted free agent with Buffalo on July 1.
"The first, we kept it simple and got pucks in and it allowed us to play in their end," Eichel said. "In the second, they started to do that to us. Started extending shifts in our end, a couple bad bounces, and all of a sudden, you're down a few goals."

Thomas gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 2:03 of the second period. Bouwmeester scored at 10:01 to make it 2-0, and Maroon scored 54 seconds later at 10:55 for a 3-0 lead.
Eichel's power-play goal at 17:25 of the second made it 3-1.
"Obviously, it's not an easy day for us in terms of traveling, getting here, and the schedule, but I think that as a group, we probably should've been a little more mature about the situation and just given ourselves a better chance to win," Eichel said.
O'Reilly scored at 13:47 of the third for a 4-1 lead.
"It was kind of nice to put the nail in the coffin," O'Reilly said. "That two-goal lead and kind of getting late there, it didn't solidify the win, but it just kind of as a team, we were like, 'OK, we got this here.' ... Finding a way to get a big goal like that to seal the deal, it felt really good."

They said it

"I think everyone tried to prepare for that. It shouldn't have caught anybody off guard. They're a good hockey team over there. You look at the standings where they're at and you flip five of those (one-goal) games for wins and they're right there. With the parity, it's a tight league." -- Sabres goalie Carter Hutton on the Blues' start to the season
"I feel like every game, it's just getting more and more comfortable and confident. Just taking it game by game and slowly getting to where I want to be and still have a long way to go." -- Blues forward Robert Thomas

Need to know

O'Reilly was traded for forwards Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka and Tage Thompson, a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, and a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Sobotka and Thompson faced the Blues for the first time since the trade. ... Sabres forward Sam Reinhart had an assist and has 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in his past 14 games, including a point in 13 of 14. ... Eichel has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games. ... Hutton is 0-3-3 in seven games against St. Louis. ... Allen is 6-1-0 in seven games against Buffalo. ... The Blues are 12-1-0 in their past 13 games against the Sabres, including seven straight wins at home.

What's next

Sabres:Host the Boston Bruins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, NESN, NHL.TV)
Blues:Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)