The NHL scheduled only one game Monday night but it was a dandy.

The St. Louis Blues rallied to defeat the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in a game that featured a highlight-reel goal, great goaltending and a heavyweight fight.

The Edmonton Oilers also lost two key players from their lineup.

Here are three key stories from Monday:

Tarasenko, Elliott star in thriller

The night belonged to Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko and goaltender Brian Elliott. Tarasenko, who scored three goals in his previous five games, got things started for the Blues with a sick one-handed power-play goal against Rangers goalie Cam Talbot. Elliott wasn't too shabby between the pipes, stopping 36 of 39 shots. He also made two saves in the shootout. Tarasenko then finished things off with the winning goal, lifting the Blues to a 4-3 win over the Rangers. The victory extended the Blues' winning streak to five games.

Heavyweight tilt

The game also had a heavyweight bout — and we mean heavy — between Blues winger Ryan Reaves (6'1, 224) and Rangers defenceman Dylan McIlrath (6'5, 230). At one point, McIlrath stopped punching to adjust his visor. In the end, the decision went to Reaves, who finished with a flurry of rights.

Oilers lose 2 key players

Unlike the Blues, Monday was a day to forget for the Oilers. The team will be without captain Andrew Ference for three games. Ference was suspended for an illegal check to the head  of the Vancouver Canucks winger Zack Kassian on Saturday. The bigger blow came a little later in the day when news broke that Taylor Hall was placed on injury reserve and is expected to be out 2-4 weeks with a knee sprain. Hall suffered the injury — a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee — when he crashed hard into the Vancouver net in Edmonton's 3-2 loss.

What was the best part of the Blues-Rangers game?