Hayes scores twice, Blues top Devils

ST. LOUIS -- Kevin Hayes scored his first two goals with the St. Louis Blues in a 4-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Enterprise Center on Friday.

Hayes, who was acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on June 27, had two assists in his first eight games with St. Louis.

"Definitely relieved," said Hayes, who also had an assist Friday. "I feel like I haven't really got too many looks this season. I've been working on it, but it's nice to actually see one go in. It felt good."

Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas also scored for St. Louis (4-4-1), which had lost its previous two games. Jordan Binnington made 33 saves, including 17 in the third period, and had an assist.

"Yeah, big game at home ... a chance to get us moving in the right direction," Binnington said. "It was a hard-fought game. That's a good team over there. I think we made a lot of big plays. Guys stepped up and kind of trusted each other, trusted the system. All around, it's a good victory."

Curtis Lazar scored his first goal of the season, and Akira Schmid made 31 saves for the Devils (6-3-1), who had won three straight, including a 5-3 victory at the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

"We can't be winning games 5-4, 5-3," New Jersey defenseman Kevin Bahl said. "We've got to win them 2-1, 1-0 now. We've just got to be better all around."

Devils center Jack Hughes, who leads the NHL with 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 10 games, left the game with an upper-body injury at 9:56 of the first period. He lost his balance and crashed into the end boards after splitting a pair of St. Louis defenseman and releasing a shot on goal. Hughes briefly returned to the ice for a New Jersey power play that began at 10:50, but soon left for good.

"He'll just be evaluated tomorrow," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "We'll see where we're at."

Losing Hughes, who had at least a point in eight of nine games this season, put the Devils in a bind. 

"It’s tough," Lazar said. "You look at the start he's had, I’m not going to lie, we were a little dejected when it happened. But, again, you've got to kind of turn the page when you realize he’s not coming back and say, 'All right, next man up.' We have a lot of skill in this room. We're getting tested early here, but I have full belief in this dressing room."

Neighbours gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 7:12 of the second period on a snap shot from the slot that beat Schmid stick side.

"It was a good forecheck and they turned it over," Neighbours said. "We quick-upped it, [Oskar Sundqvist] made a great play to [Sammy Blais] and 'Blaiser' an even better play to me. My job was just to put it in the back of the net. Great play there."

Hayes made it 2-0 at 9:54, poking in a rebound of a Nick Leddy shot from the crease.

"I think everyone was trying to do that tonight," Hayes said. "It was key for our team to get to the net, winning our net battle. I thought we did a good job of that."

Lazar cut it to 2-1 at 16:39, scoring a rebound following Leddy's turnover behind the St. Louis net.

"Great second effort goal around the front of the net," Ruff said. "I thought that goal got us going, and we had a lot of good zone time after that."

Hayes scored into an empty net at 18:23 of the third period to make it 3-1, and Thomas added an empty-net goal with nine seconds remaining for the 4-1 final.

NOTES: The Blues are 15-2-1 their past 18 games against the Devils and 10-1-0 in their past 11 against them at home. … New Jersey came in with the top-ranked power play in the NHL at 44.7 percent (17-for-38), including 6-for-12 the past four games, but was 0-for-1 Friday. ... St. Louis is 14-for-15 on the penalty kill in the past six games. The Blues have not allowed a power-play goal against the Devils in six of the past seven matchups. ... Thomas has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in nine games against the Devils and six points (three goals, three assists) in the past six games overall. … New Jersey lost on the road for the first time (3-1-0). … The Devils had scored four or more goals in their previous six games.