Vladimir Tarasenko scores hat trick in Blues win

ST. LOUIS -- When the hats began to rain down on the Scottrade Center ice, St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko was humbled.
But little did Tarasenko know that those souvenirs belonged to him after his third regular-season hat trick helped defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Thursday.

"(Do) I get (them) after," Tarasenko said when asked what he would do with all those hats. "I don't know. I just want to say thanks to the] fans for [their**
Kevin Shattenkirk had two goals and two assists for the second four-point game of his career, Alexander Steen had three assists upon his return after missing six games with an upper-body injury and Robby Fabbri had two assists for the Blues, who have scored a point in 11 straight games at Scottrade Center (9-0-2) for the first time since going 9-0-2 from Jan. 12-Feb. 19, 2012.
Jake Allen made 22 saves to win his seventh straight.
"I thought we played better today," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, whose team has won seven of eight. "The score wasn't indicative of the play, but the score was indicative at the end of the way we were paying. ... We just take the two points and probably move on, but it's not going to be comfortable in a couple weeks."

The Lightning (13-11-1), who lost their fourth in a row and fifth in six games, got two goals from Cedric Paquette. Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov also scored. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 12 saves before being pulled in the second after allowing four goals. Ben Bishop replaced him and made nine saves.
"I thought we deserved points," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I'm not going to sit here and say that we deserved to win the game, but we definitely deserved points out of this game."
Tarasenko gave the Blues the lead 1:39 into the game with his 11th goal, then made it 2-0 on the first of three power-play goals on a one-time shot from the right circle at 9:37.
Paquette got the Lightning within 2-1 at 10:39, but Shattenkirk made it 3-1 with a wrist shot off Paquette's skate at 13:17.
Shattenkirk scored the Blues' third power-play goal on a slap shot from the high slot at 1:44 of the second period that chased Vasilevskiy.
Johnson scored for Tampa Bay at 14:25 to make it 4-2, and Kucherov's power-play goal 1:41 into the third cut the Blues' lead to 4-3.
Tarasenko's third goal and fourth point came at 8:11 against Bishop to give the Blues a 5-3 lead, but Paquette's second of the game at 11:56 made it 5-4.
Tampa Bay couldn't score the equalizer despite outshooting St. Louis 12-6 in the third.

Goal of the game

Tarasenko's third goal was his most difficult, but the most impressive. The way he settled the puck and got a shot off after Fabbri's tough pass. But Tarasenko kicked it to himself and quickly snapped a shot off the left post, off Bishop's skate and in.

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy kept Blues right wing David Perron from extending his career-best eight-game point streak 6:31 into the second off a 2-on-1 with Jaden Schwartz.

Highlight of the game

Tarasenko's one-timer from the right circle on his second goal after Steen's fake gave him the whole net to shoot at.

Unsung moment of the game

Lightning center Brian Boyle stood in front of Allen and set the perfect screen on Kucherov's power-play goal in the third.

They said it

"The last four games we gave up the first two goals. It's just tough to come back, but I think we were almost there. I think it's encouraging for the next game." -- Lightning center Cedric Paquette
"He's the best player I've ever played with, hands down." --Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk on Vladimir Tarasenko

Need to know

Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman returned after missing nine games with an upper-body injury and made Slater Koekkoek a healthy scratch. … Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson (upper body) missed his 11th straight game. … Tarasenko has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in the past 13 games, getting points in 11 of them.

What's next

Lightning: Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SUN, CSN-DC, NHL.TV)
Blues: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, FS-MW, NHL.TV)