Pavel Buchnevich, Blues blast Utah to clinch playoffs

Pavel Buchnevich celebrated his 30th birthday two days early as his three-point performance helped the St. Louis Blues secure a playoff spot on Tuesday with a 6-1 win over the visiting Utah Hockey Club.
Buchnevich finished with a goal and two assists for his fourth three-point game of the season and second in three games. Jordan Kyrou added a pair of third-period goals. Jimmy Snuggerud got his first career goal to go with an assist, and Zack Bolduc and Brayden Schenn each recorded a goal and an assist as well.
Robert Thomas and Cam Fowler both notched a pair of assists. Jordan Binnington stretched his home winning streak to 11 by stopping 22 Utah shots.
Utah (38-31-13, 89 points) mustered only one goal — a power-play tally from Clayton Keller — in its season finale. Mikhail Sergachev and Nick Schmaltz set up Keller’s 30th goal. Karel Vejmelka made 23 saves.
Buchnevich made sure the Blues (44-30-8, 96 points) would not miss out on the playoffs for a third straight season as he had a hand in the team’s first three goals – all in a four-goal first period.
His pass to Snuggerud led to the Blues’ first goal. The rookie could not score on the breakaway, but Schenn pounced on the rebound with 11:52 left.
Three minutes later, Buchnevich reached the 20-goal plateau for the fifth consecutive season and sixth in his nine seasons by finishing off a give-and-go with Jake Neighbours.
Snuggerud finally got his goal, on a power play with 5:15 to go in the period. Near the crease, the forward’s right skate stepped on the puck and flipped it past Vejmelka.
Bolduc ended the first-period onslaught in the final minute with a power-play goal.
Thomas’ two assists extended his points streak to a dozen games and enabled him to have back-to-back 60-assist seasons.
Keller scored on the power play with 14:20 to go in the second. St. Louis gave its guests three more power-play opportunities, but Utah could not get another puck past Binnington.
Kyrou scored twice in the third, giving him a team-best 36 goals.
St. Louis will face Winnipeg in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.