BUFFALO, N.Y. — Vladimir Tarasenko scored three times as part of a career-best five-point outing, and the St. Louis Blues rolled to their seventh straight win by beating the Buffalo Sabres 6-2. Robert Thomas had five assists to extend his point streak to 11 games in which he has six goals and 23 points. Pavel Buchnevich, Brandon Saad and David Perron also scored for the Blues, whose surge has them battling the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central Division standings, and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Alex Tuch and Rasmus Asplund scored, and Craig Anderson stopped 22 shots for Buffalo.
Top overall pick Owen Power appeared in his second career NHL game for Buffalo, the first at KeyBank Center. He assisted on Tuch's goal in the second, the first point of Power's NHL career.
Power took a cross-checking penalty late in the first that gave the Blues a 5-on-3 advantage and led to David Perron's game tying goal in the first. Vlad Tarasenko also beat Power off the right wing boards scoring his second of the night to give St. Louis a 4-2 lead in the second period.
Power finished -1 on the night.
The Sabres host the Philadelphia Flyers in the fist of a home and home series Saturday at 7 p.m.
