Ducks’ 6-game trip begins with a lopsided loss in St. Louis
By WARREN MAYES The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The Ducks started their longest road trip of the season with a forgettable night in St. Louis.
Robert Thomas scored twice and the St. Louis Blues hammered the Ducks, 6-2, on Thursday night.
Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich each had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Tucker and Dylan Holloway also scored for the Blues. Brayden Schenn had two assists and Joel Hofer stopped 22 shots.
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal gave up six goals on 22 shots before he was replaced midway through the second period. John Gibson stopped all 12 shots he faced in relief. Nikita Nesterenko and Sam Colangelo scored for the Ducks, who played without leading scorer Troy Terry for the second consecutive game.
Terry’s wife gave birth to their second child on Tuesday, a son they named Theo. Terry leads the Ducks in every major statistical category – points (33), goals (14), assists (19) and power-play goals (four) in 39 games this season.
The Blues scored three goals on their first six shots as Thomas, Tucker and Kyrou tallied in the first 6:40 of the game. The fourth goal came on the Blues’ 13th shot by Holloway with 6:05 remaining in the first period.
Thomas got the scoring started 2:45 into the first period after pouncing on a turnover directly in front of the Ducks’ net.
Less than two minutes later, Tucker scored on a slap shot from the right point off Oskar Sundqvist’s pass from the left corner.
Kyrou made it 3-0 at the 6:40 mark by driving to the right post and converting the rebound of former Duck Cam Fowler’s backhand shot.
Holloway scored from the slot for a 4-0 lead. Kyrou set that one up with a centering pass.
Nesterenko put the Ducks on the scoreboard with four minutes left in the first period. Jackson LaCombe fired a shot from above the left circle, and Nesterenko deflected it past Hofer.
Thomas scored again at 4:45 of the second. He took a pass in stride from Buchnevich, but Dostal kicked out the first backhand try. Thomas stayed with it and from a sharp angle, he was able to slide it just over the goal line.
Buchnevich made it 6-1 by cutting to the front of the net and reaching a shot around Dostal at 8:02, and that ended Dostal’s night.
Colangelo got his first goal of the season – and the second of his career – with 5:22 left in the middle period by scoring from the left wing off of Ryan Strome’s cross-ice pass.
Holloway has five goals and eight assists over the past 11 games for a Blues team that has 37 goals in the past eight games. St. Louis has scored four or more goals in five straight and seven of the past eight.
UP NEXT
Ducks visit Philadelphia on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT