Robert Thomas scores with 9 seconds left in OT as the Blues beat the Oilers 3-2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored on a wrist shot with nine seconds left in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

The Blues trailed 2-0 midway through the third period but goals by Pius Suter with 7:38 to play and Cam Fowler with 3:46 left in regulation tied it at 2-all.

Fowler also had an assist and Joel Hofer made 36 saves to help St. Louis win for the sixth time in their last seven games. With the win the Blues pulled within five points of a wild-card playoff spot. Hofer is now 8-2-2 in his last 12 starts.

Kasperi Kapanen gave Edmonton the lead with 4:19 to play in the second period and Connor McDavid scored his 37th goal of the season to make it 2-0 9:56 into the third period. Connor Ingram had 22 saves.

The Oilers went scoreless on the power play in three chances.

The Oilers, in third place in the Pacific Division, finished a four-game road trip 2-2.

Thomas now has points in nine consecutive games.

The Blues had trouble generating shots early and went 19:48 without a shot from the first period into the second.

Leon Draisaitl had an assist on Kapanen's goal and now has an eight-game points streak (five goals, 11 assists). Evan Bouchard's nine-game point streak came to an end.

Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't play to deal with a personal matter, the team said.

Oilers: Return home to play Nashville on Sunday.

Blues: Open a three-game road trip at Winnipeg on Sunday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

St. Louis Blues' Logan Mailloux (23) and Edmonton Oilers' Vasily Podkolzin (92) battle for control of the puckduring the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, March 13, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram (39) clears the puck in front of St. Louis Blues' Pavel Buchnevich (89) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, March 13, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) shoots a goal past Edmonton Oilers' Jack Roslovic (28) and Connor McDavid (97) during overtime period of an NHL hockey game Friday, March 13, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) reacts after scoring during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers Friday, March 13, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) celebrates with Cam Fowler (17) after scoring during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers Friday, March 13, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka, a two-time runner-up at Indian Wells, will get another shot at winning the event after beating Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals Friday.

The top-ranked Sabalenka, from Belarus, dispatched Noskova in 1 hour, 28 minutes on Stadium Court 1 at the BNP Paribas Open.

She will face third-ranked Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the final Sunday. Rybakina handled ninth-ranked Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Sabalenka's only loss in 2026 came against Rybakina in the Australian Open final. Sabalenka surely will be looking to avenge that one as well as her 0-2 record in Indian Wells finales.

“I’ll make sure that I’m more than ready on Sunday, and I’ll bring my best tennis, make sure that this is the year," Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka improved to 12-1 in 2026 with her victory Friday, which came after she reached the semifinals for the sixth consecutive WTA Tour event. Her last loss before that round came against Rybakina in the Cincinnati quarterfinals last August.

Sabalenka connected on 38 of 58 first serves against the 14th-seeded Noskova and notched 11 aces to reach the finale for the third time in four years.

“I would say that, yeah, serve was the biggest thing in this match," she said. "I was trying to stay focused on my serve and try to put as much as pressure as I could on her serve. And, lucky me, I got this win.”

Sabalenka has won 8 of 15 meetings against Rybakina, with two of those losses coming in their last two matchups. Rybakina won 78% percent of her first serves against Svitolina, who double faulted eight times in their semifinal.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, returns a shot against Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, during a semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, serves against Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, during a semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Linda Noskova, of the Czech Republic, returns a shot against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during a semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, returns a shot against Linda Noskova, of the Czech Republic, during a semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Linda Noskova, of the Czech Republic, returns a shot against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during a semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, reacts after winning a game against Linda Noskova, of the Czech Republic, during a semifinal match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)