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Parayko scores in OT to lift Blues to 4-3 win over Stars

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Colton Parayko scored 37 seconds into overtime, lifting the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Parayko knocked in a loose puck at the side of the net.
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St. Louis Blues' Colton Parayko, far right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring the game-winning goal during overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Colton Parayko scored 37 seconds into overtime, lifting the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

Parayko knocked in a loose puck at the side of the net. He lifted the puck over Scott Wedgewood, who was down on the ice after saving a shot by Jordan Kyrou.

“I just saw it there,” Parayko said. “He was down, the goalie. Good drive by Kyrou and then I just tried to get it over his back because I saw he was still down. Quick play, happened quick, but good win for our group I think.”

Kyrou had a goal and two assists, Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Saad also scored for the Blues, who won their second straight after a four-game skid. Jordan Binnington had 20 saves to improve to 10-9-1.

It was the second straight win for interim coach Drew Bannister, who took over behind the bench after Craig Berube was fired Tuesday night.

Mason Marchment, Ty Dellandrea and Evgenii Dadonov scored for Dallas. Scott Wedgewood stopped 30 shots.

“Teams below you are still great teams,” the Stars' Tyler Seguin said. “These guys got a new coach and they played a great hockey game. This league’s hard. We’ll take the point and run.”

Dadonov tied it 3-3 with 6:51 remaining in the third period as he tipped in a shot by Miro Heiskanen.

“When you’re down a goal, you have to work hard,” Dadonov said. “You try and create scoring changes from anything pretty much. We just keep working. It’s part of the game.”

Marchment opened the scoring as he tapped in the puck from just outside the crease 4:58 into the game.

Dellandrea lifted the puck up on a wrist shot over a prone Binnington at 6:47 to make it 2-0. The Blues challenged the call for interference, but Dellandrea’s first this season stood after the review as officials determined Sam Steel was pushed into Binnington.

“It was nice to get one,” Dellandrea said. “I just want to help the team and contribute to the team. It was nice. The waiting killed it a little bit but it all worked out in the end.”

A rare power-play goal got the Blues on the scoreboard. Ranked last in the NHL on the power play at 8.1%, the Blues snapped a 0-for-20 streak with 7:07 left in the opening period. Saad scored on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle against the Dallas penalty-kill — which ranks fourth in the league.

“The power play, it’s a big goal,” Bannister said. “I know it made it a 2-1 game, but in a broader spectrum, it’s a big goal for that group.”

When it was announced Kyrou had the primary assist on the power-play goal, the crowd erupted in applause. Kyrou was booed Thursday after he made an awkward comment about the fired Berube.

Kyrou scored on a breakaway at 1:36 of the second period to tie the score, drawing rousing cheers from the crowd. Robert Thomas started the play. Torey Krug fed Kyrou near the center line and he raced in and buried a wrist shot.

“That’s just a helluva play by Thomas. He made that whole play happen,” Kyrou said. “He back-checked, stripped the puck and gave it to Krug and he gave a nice pass to me. I was just doing an instinct shot. It worked.”

Hayes scored the go-ahead with 3:14 remaining in the middle period when he knocked in a loose puck.

“They pushed and we didn’t respond in the right way,” Dallas coach Petet DeBoer said. “We didn’t play well enough and they played really well. When a team gets in a hole like that, you know they’re going to respond as the home team. We’re fortunate to get out of here with a point.”

UP NEXT

Stars: Host Seattle on Monday night.

Blues: At Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Warren Mayes, The Associated Press