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Wheeler scores twice as Bruins roll over Blues

Dec 22, 2008 - 4:06 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- A rash of injuries did not stop the Boston Bruins from proving they are an elite team in the Eastern Conference.

Rookie Blake Wheeler scored two goals to help the Bruins extend their winning streak to five games with a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Boston suffered a dent in its offensive scheme when Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron and Aaron Ward were placed on injured reserve this week. However, registering at least four goals for the seventh straight time in a win helped ease the pain of those circumstances.

"We've done so well on the road, and at the start of a long trip, two points are important," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Now, seeing our guys get it together on the power play in road games has been tremendous, because it's been super at home. Getting off to a good start is always big, as well, and our special teams were a big part of that, too."

Defenseman Shane Hnidy and Michael Ryder netted power-play goals, while Marc Savard and Vladimir Sobotka added tallies for the Bruins, who notched their first win in St. Louis since October 17, 1995. They had been 0-3-4 in their last seven contests there.

David Krejci had three assists and Phil Kessel set up two others to increase his points streak to 18 games in support of Manny Fernandez, who made 29 saves. Captain Zdeno Chara also recorded two assists.

Kessel's run marks the longest in team history since Adam Oates' 20-game stretch in 1997-98.

"Everything is flowing right now and everybody is playing well," Kessel said. "You expect to do that at home, and were starting to do it on the road like we know we can."

Brad Winchester scored with the man advantage and Jay McClement and Yan Stastny chipped in one goal apiece for the Blues, who have dropped six of their last seven.

"I'm always surprised when we don't play well because that's what they're supposed to do," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "We don't have inconsistent effort. We have inconsistent execution."

Stastny pulled the Blues even at 3-3 just 2:46 into the second period, but the Bruins used Ryder's wrister from the right faceoff circle with the man advantage to gain a lead they would not relinquish seven minutes later.

Savard added some insurance with a snapshot in the slot with three minutes remaining in the session.

Sabotka capped the rally with five minutes left in the game against Blues netminder Chris Mason, who replaced Manny Legace after 40 minutes of play.

"A bad game after a good game is bad, period. This one was on me," Legace said. "I was late reacting on one goal and overacted on another. This was awful, and this team can't afford it. Coach is upset that we can't play well consistently, and he's right. Consistency is everything in this league and we don't have it."

Legace stopped 18 of 23 shots in his second game back to the lineup in the wake of suffering a concussion which forced the veteran to miss five contests.

Wheeler's two goals came 2 1/2 minutes apart in the first, but Winchester and McClement each struck to forge a 2-2 tie. Hnidy converted passes from Krejci and Kessel with 2:16 left in the session to give Boston a 3-2 lead.

"The period was amazing for me and for the team," Krejci said. "We should have been ahead by more than one goal, but we were off to a good start and just kept right on going. It's not easy to score five against a good goalie like (Legace)."

Since starting the season 2-2-3, Boston is 22-3-1 overall.