Hearts moved three points clear in third place in the easy Premiership with their first away league victory over St. Johnstone in 12 years thanks to stand-in skipper Lawrence Shankland's 16th goal of the year.
In place of the injured goalkeeper Craig Gordon, the striker took the captain's role and opened the scoring with a penalty. Later goals from Alan Forrest and substitute Barrie McKay helped Perth win 3-2.
Ali Crawford and Adam Montgomery were substituted for Daniel Phillips and James Brown in the Saints manager Callum Davidson's 4-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Saturday.
The Jambos made four changes to the lineup that began the 2-2 draw against Dundee United on Christmas Eve. Gordon, Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley, and another trio of injured players missed out, and McKay was moved to the bench. Forrest, Jorge Grant, Toby Sibbick, and Zander Clark all entered.
Hearts had a solid start and nearly took the lead right away when Grant narrowly missed the post from close range after Remi Matthews parried Shankland's effort into his path.
After 14 minutes, Shankland scored from the spot after VAR determined that Ryan McGowan handled the ball while attempting to block a Grant flick-on from Josh Ginnelly's cross. The visitors had been dominant in the opening period.
When Alex Mitchell replaced injured Melker Hallberg in the 25th minute, Saints were dealt a further setback. On the hour, the replacement player had to make a crucial block to divert a Ginnelly shot from the edge of the box over the crossbar.
When Forrest was set up by Andy Halliday and curled a beautiful finish beyond Matthews from 15 yards in the 33rd minute, Hearts doubled their lead. In the 35th minute, Saints began to gain momentum, and Stevie May missed a shot from the edge of the box after receiving a pass from Drey Wright.
The hosts had a chance to get one back four minutes later when they were given a penalty after VAR determined that Cammy Devlin had handled the ball, but Graham Carey missed his spot-kick.
Three minutes before the break, Saints again created a threat when Crawford's deflected shot nearly caught Clark off guard as it looped through the air and landed on the right-hand post of the goalkeeper. In the 55th minute, after being pulled in the area by Robert Snodgrass, May converted a penalty kick to put the Perth players back in the game.
Hearts regained a two-goal lead in the 64th minute when McKay, who had just entered the game as a substitute, completed a beautiful skill move before beating Matthews with a brilliant low strike from 25 yards.
However, Saints put the opposition on the defensive in the 79th minute when substitute Jamie Murphy scored another goal with a beautiful effort from just inside the area.
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