ST. LOUIS (AP) - St. Louis defenseman Joel Edmundson doesn’t score very often. When he does, it is usually an important one.
Edmundson converted with 20 seconds left in regulation and Jake Allen made 23 saves in the Blues’ 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
“It feels good, a little different - but good,” Edmundson said.
Paul Stastny, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Reaves also scored to help the Blues win their third straight.
Jakob Silfverberg, Chris Wagner and Rickard Rakell scored for the Ducks. They had won two in a row.
Allen improved to 5-0 lifetime against the Ducks.
Edmundson has three goals in 120 NHL games. He snapped a wrist shot past goalie Josh Gibson off a nifty set up from defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who had just his third assist of the season.
“An unlikely pair,” Reaves said.
“Not exactly how we drew it up,” joked St. Louis coach Mike Yeo.
Edmundson scored a goal last season in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal series against Dallas. It gave the Blues a 2-1 lead in the first period after they had dropped the first game of the series.
His winner Friday was just as important,
“It was an incredible shot,” Bortuzzo said. “But this is the kind of locker room where all the guys are going to pitch in.”
Yeo agreed, “We always say when you’re doing the right things, everybody will get a chance in the spotlight.”
Reaves stuffed in a rebound in the second period for a 2-1 lead. Early in the third period, he came up empty on a penalty shot when goalie John Gibson came out and poked the puck off his stick.
The unsuccessful effort drew some snickers from Reaves’ teammates. Even Reaves found it amusing.
“It’s not my element,” said Reaves, who scored for the 24th time in 403 games. “My first (penalty shot) since high school.”
Stastny snapped a 2-2 tie in the first minute of the third with a blast from the slot that eluded Gibson, who was making his first start after missing six games in a row with a lower-body injury.
Silfverberg tied it at 3 on a power play with 10:36 left.
Anaheim, which was coming off a 1-0 victory in Chicago on Thursday night, jumped to a 2-1 lead on goals by Rakell and Wagner. Rakell scored his 28th of the season at 11:59 of the opening period to tie it at 1. On ice-officials first disallowed the goal, ruling that Allen had been interfered with on the play.
But a video review determined Corey Perry had been pushed into Allen.
Tarasenko scored his 30th goal of the season just 12 seconds into the game. It was the fastest goal of the season for the Blues.
“To lose with under 20 seconds left, it’s very disappointing,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. “We played well at times, but didn’t get any real reward.”
Anaheim outshot St. Louis 14-9 in the third period and appeared to grab the momentum after Silfverberg’s goal.
“I thought we played hard the whole game,” Rakell said. “Every game is so close and it means so much. We’ve just got to put this one behind us.”
Notes: The teams will meet again on Wednesday in Anaheim. … The Ducks have 14 games remaining, nine at home. … Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle is sitting on 399 career victories. … The Ducks have allowed just 72 goals since Christmas, fewest in the league.
UP NEXT
Anaheim: The Ducks host Washington on Sunday in the first of three straight home games.
St. Louis: The Blues host the New York Islanders on Saturday before beginning a five-game trip on Monday in Los Angeles.
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