Schwartz scores twice as Blues beat Bruins 2-1 in OT

Jaden Schwartz celebrates his overtime goal with Blues teammate Brayden Schenn in Wednesday night's 2-1 win against the Bruins in St. Louis.
Jaden Schwartz celebrates his overtime goal with Blues teammate Brayden Schenn in Wednesday night's 2-1 win against the Bruins in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS - Jaden Schwartz and the St. Louis Blues waited most of the season for some late-game magic.

They finally found it.

Schwartz scored his second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime to give St. Louis a 2-1 victory Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins. It was the Blues' third successive come-from-behind win in overtime. They beat Chicago 5-4 on Sunday after a 4-3 extra period win against the New York Rangers a day earlier.

Going into Saturday's game, St. Louis had a 2-23-1 record when trailing after the second period.

"We knew we had it in us," coach Mike Yeo said. "Obviously, we're finding it at the right time."

The Blues won for the fifth time in six games to move within two points of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

Jake Allen made 21 saves to improve to 24-21-2.

Ryan Donato scored for Boston. The Bruins clinched a playoff spot and moved within four points of Tampa Bay for the Eastern lead.

Schwartz scored his third game-winning goal of the season with a nifty coast-to-coast march in the extra period. He took a drop pass from Colton Parayko and skated behind his own net to gain momentum.

Schwartz weaved through a pair of defenders and drilled a hard shot from the slot past goalie Anton Khudobin, who made 18 saves.

"I had some space and I just tried to pick up some speed," Schwartz said. "I wanted to see what was going to develop. I got a little one-on-one and just tried to change the angle."

Schwartz, who got his 15th career game-winner, missed 20 games earlier in the season with a broken ankle.

"He's a heck of a player, he's fun to watch," St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "He's been so good for us this year in all aspects of the game."

Schwartz is having the time of his life during the Blues' recent come-from-behind win streak.

"We're back to believing in ourselves," Schwartz said. "We're doing a good job of playing the full 60 minutes and not giving up. We're not panicking."

Schwartz tied it midway through the third period with a wrist shot from the top of the circle.

Donato scored his second goal in his second NHL game. He had a goal and two assists in a 5-4 loss to Columbus on Monday night.

Donato, still a student at Harvard University, returned to Massachusetts on Tuesday to attend class before flying back to St. Louis to rejoin the Bruins. His father, Ted, played 528 games in two stints with the Bruins (1992-99, 2003-04).

Donato, who played for the U.S. Olympic team last month, drilled a shot past Allen in the first period. Pietrangelo's clearing attempt hit referee Brad Watson and the puck bounced right to Donato.

"That's the goal, getting that playoff point is huge for us and being able to clinch that spot," Donato said. "But obviously we would have been a lot happier if we got the win as well."

Boston, which has a game in hand on Tampa Bay, joined Nashville and Tampa Bay as only teams to have clinched playoff spots.

The Blues host Vancouver on Friday night.