The Montreal Canadiens dug themselves into an early hole Thursday by allowing three first period goals - two by sniper Alex Steen - as they succumbed 5-1 to the St. Louis Blues.
Brendan Gallagher helped narrow the lead to 3-1 in the second period with his 10th of the season, only his second in 18 games, as he deflected a David Desharnais shot from in close and then batted home his own rebound past Blues' goaltender Jaroslav Halak at 12:51.
The Habs then attempted to reduce the lead for the next 20 minutes but it was the Blues who were to score the next marker, as Jaden Schwartz made it 4-1 at 12:21 of the third after the puck eluded Andrei Markov, allowing Jaden Schwartz to streak down the right wing.
Alexei Emelin dove to block Schwartz’s wrist shot from the circle but it eluded both him and Price, entering the twine on the far side over Price’s blocker. Price slammed his stick down in frustration. It was Schwartz’s ninth of the season and appeared to deflate the Canadiens who were unable to sustain much pressure on a subsequent power play.
Former Hab Maxime Lapierre later made it 5-1 with a shot from the slot at 17:33 of the third period, good for his third of the season.
The Habs are the latest team to be victimized by the sniping wizardry of Alex Steen, who scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season, to match his best-ever season output.
The difference is that Steen has needed only 34 games to get to 24 goals, while he required 68 games to get to that total in 2009-2010. Only Alex Ovechkin - who has scored 28 this season - now has more goals than the Winnipeg-born former Toronto Maple Leaf.
Steen scored his first goal at 4:20 while teammate Roman Polak was in the box on a holding call. T.J. Oshie slid a pass past an outstretched Alexei Emelin to allow Steen a clear shot at net.
Steen then struck again three minutes later on a high shot on Carey Price at 7:55, on assists from Derek Roy and Patrik Berglund.
The Blues got their third goal when Chris Stewart netted his 10th of the season at 13:33 with assists by Brenden Morrow and Barret Jackman.
The Habs’ pairing of Emelin and Raphael Diaz struggled, both going minus three on the night.
For the first time this season, P.K. Subban played a regular shift on the penalty kill, helping shut the Blues down on five tries.
Steen, who is the son of Thomas Steen, a Swede had a long career with the Winnipeg Jets, was slated to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
However he signed a three year deal with the Blues Wednesday, which will see him get paid $5 million, $5.8 million and $6.5 million, a relative bargain considering his impressive output.
The Blues outshot the Canadiens 29-26.
The Canadiens are now 0-7-0 against St. Louis since last beating the Blues on March 10, 2007.
The Canadiens next play in Nashville on Saturday for their final game before the Christmas break.
