Krug has 5 assists, Blues cruise past Canadiens 

MONTREAL -- Torey Krug had five assists for the St. Louis Blues in a 7-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Sunday.

Krug's five assists and points were the most in one game by a defenseman in Blues history.

“They were giving us a lot of room up top for [Robert Thomas] and Torey to kind of just get the middle and try to get some shots,” Blues forward Jordan Kyrou said. “We were shooting the puck, we were getting good lanes there, so we were getting good bounces as well.”

Thomas had a goal and three assists, Kyrou scored twice, and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves for St. Louis (28-21-2), which has won seven of its past eight games.

“I think we’re really coming together on the ice as a group,” Kyrou said. “We’re really playing for each other out there and we kind of just all have a little swagger right now, a little confidence going, which definitely helps as well.”

The Blues won 3-1 at the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and have outscored their opponents 10-3 in the first two games of a three-game road trip that will conclude at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

“We’re playing the right way and everyone’s chipping in,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t matter the night, someone seems to step up every night, and that’s what you need coming down to tough games.”

Nick Suzuki extended his point streak to seven games (five goals, six assists), and Jake Allen made 29 saves for Montreal (21-23-8), which is 2-5-1 in its past eight games, including a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

The Canadiens were 2-for-5 on the penalty kill.

“You can’t give that power play that many looks, and they executed pretty well against us,” Suzuki said.

Alexey Toropchenko scored 25 seconds into the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone, drove down the right side, and pulled the puck back between his legs to deke around Canadiens defenseman Jayden Struble before cutting across the crease and stuffing the puck around Allen’s right pad.

“A pretty sweet goal,” Thomas said. “There’s no better way to start the game. You try and start the game and get momentum for your team, and he comes out and scores a highlight-reel goal.”

Brayden Schenn made it 2-0 at 5:05 when he redirected Colton Parayko’s slap shot from the point past Allen.

Suzuki cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:23 with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Juraj Slafkovsky.

Kyrou put the Blues up 3-1 with a power-play goal at 15:20 when he put in the rebound of Thomas’ shot from the point.

Nathan Walker scored a snap shot from the right circle at 17:49 of the second period to push it to 4-1, and Thomas extended it to 5-1 with a power-play goal 31 seconds into the third period.

David Savard made it 5-2 at 3:06 with a wrist shot from the slot that deflected off Joel Armia.

Jake Neighbours made it 6-2 at 7:14 with another power-play goal. He put in a rebound in front off Krug’s wrist shot from the left point.

Kyrou then made it 7-2 at 15:33. His wrist shot from the slot went over the net, but it bounced in off Allen’s skate after hitting the end boards.

“It’s never fun to get run out of the building, especially yours,” Struble said. “I thought there were a lot of bad bounces too that went against us, but it’s not an excuse. You’ve just got to keep going. Tomorrow’s a new day.”

NOTES: Blues forward Sammy Blais was assessed a major and match penalty at 5:18 of the first for boarding Montreal defenseman Jordan Harris behind the Canadiens' net. Harris did not return and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. … Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle left the game after he was hit by Marco Scandella with 1:37 remaining in the third period. There was no update. … Canadiens forward Cole Caufield had his NHL career-high 11-game point streak end (six goals, eight assists). … The Canadiens placed forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard on injured reserve on Sunday with an upper-body he sustained in a collision with Armia on Saturday. He is out 4-6 weeks.