ST. LOUIS — Drew Bannister had been waiting for that one special period.

The Blues interim coach got it Thursday night.

St. Louis scored four times in the second stanza to blow past red-hot Edmonton 6-3 at Enterprise Center.

Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours each had a goal and two assists.

Torey Krug, Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad also scored for the Blues, who won have eight of their last 10 games.

St. Louis, which trailed 2-1 after one period, needed its standouts to step up in the battle of two of the hottest teams in the Western Conference.

And the big dogs came through at the perfect time.

Thomas and Neighbours recorded their team-high 19th goals of the season. Kyrou and Buchnevich both tallied their 18th of year.

Neighbours, who has four goals in his last three games, turned in the play of the night with a no-look backhanded pass to Krug from close range to break a 2-all tie at 8:37 of the second period.

Neighbours had tied the contest just seven minutes earlier by gobbling up a rebound in front of the net to kick-start the four-goal assault.

Kyrou and Buchnevich tallied in the final 4:28 of the period to give the Blues a 5-2 lead.

St. Louis struck first when Thomas converted off a nifty cross ice pass from defenseman Nick Leddy along the left boards at 10:13 of the opening period.

Thomas has 16 points over his last 10 games and has 15 points over the last 13 games against the Oilers.

Leon Draisaitl tied the game on a power play goal with 6:09 left in the first period. The Blues had killed their last 11 penalties over the previous five games.

The Oilers almost had a second power play goal in the first period, but goalie Jordan Binnington robbed Zach Hyman twice in a 72-second span. Binnington stoned Hyman with a glove save from close range early in the man advantage before adding a nifty leg stop off a backhand shot later on the power play.

Edmonton took a 2-1 lead when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored off a scramble in front of the net with 27 seconds left in the opening period.

The Blues almost tied the game seconds later, but Oskar Sundqvist’s tip-in came a split second after the buzzer.

Binnington made 36 saves in improving to 19-14-2. He stopped Derek Ryan on a shorthanded breakaway in the middle period among his half dozen highlight-reel saves.

Saad added an empty net goal with 2:53 left in the contest.

St. Louis defenseman Marco Scandella appeared to get the best of Corey Perry with a takedown during a short altercation late in the second period. Both received five-minute majors for fighting.

Edmonton won 16 games in a row from Dec. 21, 2023, to Jan. 27, 2024.

Walking wounded

St. Louis defenseman Scott Perunovich participated in the morning skate Thursday.

“I think it was a good day for Scotty,” Bannister said. “I don’t want to say that he’s anywhere near playing for us. But that’s a good step. He felt real good being out there on the ice.”

Perunovich has been out since Jan. 28. He left a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings with a lower body injury.

Indications are Perunovich is likely miss at least a couple more games. The 25-year-old had 10 assists in his previous 14 games prior to the injury.

Defenseman Justin Faulk missed his eighth successive contest after injuring his left leg late in a 4-3 win over Calgary on January 23.

“He’s continuing to rehab away from the ice,” Bannister said. “We’re not close to a point that we feel he’s going to be (ready).”

Blais out again

Sammy Blais was a healthy scratch for the 11th time this season.

The winger leads the team in hits with 143 but has just one goal and six assists in 42 games. His lone tally came in the third game of the season against Arizona.

Blais took a costly penalty in the third period of a 4-1 loss on Tuesday in Toronto. The Blues trailed 2-1 at the time.

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