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Blues score early and often in rout of Maple Leafs

Oct 2, 2008 - 3:34 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Lee Stempniak scored two goals as the St. Louis Blues got off to a fast start and never looked back in a 7-3 preseason victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

Stempniak scored his first goal with just under nine minutes left in the first period to give the Blues a 3-0 lead. He added his second tally 1:56 into the middle session to extend the advantage to 6-1.

Stempniak's first tally was a hustle goal, as he caused a turnover that led to a shot on goal by Andy McDonald. Stempniak went hard to the goal and knocked in the rebound.

Yan Stastny got the onslaught started 11 seconds into the game, and by the time the first period was over, five different players had scored to give St. Louis a 5-1 bulge.

Brad Boyes, T.J. Oshie and McDonald added first-period tallies for St. Louis. David Perron added the only power-play goal of the game with 30 seconds remaining in the third.

Stempniak, Boyes and Perron now have five goals this preseason, while McDonald added two assists to raise his points total to 11 in four games.

Mikhail Grabovski, defenseman Anton Stralman and Niklas Hagman scored for Toronto.

It was a rough night for veteran goaltender Curtis Joseph, who faced 12 shots but turned aside only six in 22 minutes. Justin Pogge came on and made 13 saves, allowing only Perron's late tally.

Chris Mason stopped 21 shots for the Blues.