Blues top Canadiens for fourth straight win

MONTREAL -- Patrik Berglund scored his first NHL hat trick and the St. Louis Blues extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.
Berglund's first two goals gave St. Louis two of its three one-goal leads. He completed his hat trick with his 17th goal into an empty net with 1:01 remaining.

"It feels really good," Berglund said. "I've been waiting a long time for it, but going back home to St. Louis with four really tough road wins is even a better feeling."
WACH: All Blues vs. Canadiens highlights
David Perron scored a goal and an assist and Jake Allen made 28 saves for St. Louis (29-22-5), which is 5-1-0 since coach Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1.
The Blues' winning streak spans four road games in six days.
"Obviously, I think we were running low on juice there in the third and it's been a long trip," Allen said. "It feels like it's been a long trip and we found a way to win the game. And I thought we had a great trip, a huge momentum builder for us."

Max Pacioretty scored a goal and an assist, and Shea Weber scored for Montreal (31-18-8), which is 1-4-1 in its past six games. Al Montoya made 18 saves.
"We played a pretty good game, but we've got to find ways to win and the losing and winning, the losing and winning isn't just going to cut it," said Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, who assisted on Pacioretty's goal. "So we need to find some answers, and find them quick."
Berglund's second goal of the game at 19:35 of the second period gave the Blues their third one-goal lead at 3-2.
Berglund's first of the game put St. Louis up 1-0 at 3:49 of the first period. He scored his 15th goal on a deflection past Montoya, who fell down when he moved to his left to face a shot by Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
"I just went to the net and [Pietrangelo] had a great shot-pass to me so it was an open net," Berglund said.
It was the first goal Montoya allowed in four home games, ending his shutout streak of 159:10 at Bell Centre.
Weber made it 1-1 on Montreal's third shot at 16:39 of the first, a slap shot from the right point for his 13th goal.
"It was a terrible goal, it shouldn't have gone in," Allen said. "A pee-wee goalie could have stopped it."
Perron made it 2-1 with his 12th goal at 7:20 of the second.
Pacioretty, who was sent home before the Canadiens' morning skate because of the flu, scored his 28th goal at 12:55 to make it 2-2.

Goal of the game

Perron tapped the puck back to leave it for Berglund to complete his hat trick instead of putting it into the empty net himself. "We were really close to the net and it almost looks like he kind of loses it or gives it to me," Perron said. "I'm not sure if he was trying to give me a point there. I was like, 'No, you're taking it, buddy.' But I'll take the point too."

Save of the game

Allen used his stick to deflect the puck on Alexander Radulov's wraparound attempt and made a point-blank save on Pacioretty's shot from the goalmouth at 5:00 of the third period to protect the Blues' 3-2 lead.

Highlight of the game

Perron used his left skate to kick the puck to his forehand before shooting past Montoya for his first goal in 13 games (Jan. 14).

Unsung performance of the game

Though he didn't get an assist, Radulov did strong work to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the play that led to Pacioretty's goal. "He's always strong on the puck, and I think that creates offense both for our line but also wears down the (defense) and wears down the opposition for all the other lines," Pacioretty said. "So you know he played a strong game and it would have been nice to see him get rewarded."

They said it

"They didn't turn pucks over, they made it real hard on us, and this was a game where we basically scratched and clawed a win out of it." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo
"I think the team played great. We came out with a lot of jam. The third period, fantastic. You know, one or two I want back and other than that, the team played great and this is one that we're going to have to put behind us and know how we played and get back out there and do it again [Sunday]." -- Canadiens goalie Al Montoya

Need to know

The Blues have not allowed a power-play goal under Yeo. Montreal went 0-for-1 and St. Louis has successfully killed 16 straight opportunities. ... Montreal center Tomas Plekanec played his 900th NHL career game.

What's next

Blues: At the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN,
NHL.TV
)
Canadiens: At the Boston Bruins on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, RDS,
NHL.TV
)