EditorsNote: Stat fix 4th graf
Brendan Gallagher scored a goal just six seconds into the second period, and Carey Price finished with 32 saves as the visiting Montreal Canadiens handed the St. Louis Blues their fourth straight loss, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon.
Gallagher's goal was two seconds shy of the fastest to begin any period in NHL history. Shea Weber had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Weal, Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki also scored goals for Montreal, which knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champions for the second time in eight days, outscoring the Blues 11-5 in the process.
It was Price's 325th career victory, moving him ahead of Sean Burke into 27th place in NHL history.
David Perron and Jaden Schwartz scored for St. Louis. Jake Allen, making his first home start since Jan. 8, had 20 saves. It ended a streak of 13 consecutive road starts for Allen.
Montreal took a 1-0 lead at the 5:57 mark in the first period with a power play goal by Weal, snapping a streak of 15 straight penalty kills by St. Louis. Weal, standing on the edge of the blue paint, knocked in a rebound of a Max Domi shot for his second goal of the season.
The Blues tied it 71 seconds later when a shot by Alex Pietrangelo bounced off the back boards straight to Schwartz on the left side of the goal, where he backhanded the rebound past Price.
Montreal answered with three goals in less than 12 minutes to start the second period to take a 4-1 lead. Gallagher got the first to start the period when off the faceoff he threw the puck toward the goal from inside the blue line near the right boards and it went in off the tip of Allen's stick inside the right post for his fourth goal of the season.
Drouin made it 3-1 with a power play goal 3 1/2 minutes later, one-timing a shot from the right circle over Allen's left shoulder for his third goal of the season.
Suzuki followed with his second goal in two games off a setup by Nate Thompson, firing a wrist shot from the middle of the slot into the top right corner.
St. Louis pulled Allen with 4:51 remaining but couldn't score until Perron's fourth goal of the season with 38 seconds left. Weber then sealed the win for Montreal with an empty-netter 15 seconds later.
--Field Level Media
