Joel Hofer produces 5th shutout of season as Blues blank Ducks
Joel Hofer posted his fifth shutout of the season, and a three-goal second period fueled the St. Louis Blues to a 4-0 victory Sunday over the Anaheim Ducks to cap a perfect four-game road trip.
Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and an assist for the second straight game. Jonathan Druin, acquired Friday from the New York Islanders as part of the Brayden Schenn trade, scored for the Blues, as did Jordan Kyrou and Pius Suter.
Justin Holl, who St. Louis acquired from Detroit in the Justin Faulk trade, added an assist in his first game with his new team and NHL season debut.
Hofer did not let any of the 22 shots he faced get past him. With his fifth shutout, he broke a tie with Minnesota's Jesper Wallstedt and Detroit's John Gibson for second place among NHL goalies this season. The Islanders' Ilya Sorokin has a league-best six.
Ville Husso stopped 31 shots for the Ducks, who finished their nine-game homestand with a 7-2 record.
The Blues outshot their hosts 13-7 in the opening period, even though they committed three minor penalties during the opening 20 minutes.
All three second-period goals came from the right faceoff circle.
Kyrou, benched after one shift early in the third period Friday in San Jose, registered his 15th goal of the season to put the Blues up with 15:38 remaining in the second period. He received a pass from Jake Neighbours at the St. Louis blue line, skated unabated into the attack zone and snapped a shot past Husso that banked off the far goalpost and in the net.
Drouin doubled his new team's lead on a power-play goal midway through the period. It was the fourth goal of the season for Drouin, who also scored in his debut for the Islanders on Oct. 9, and first since Nov. 14, a stretch of 38 games.
Two minutes later, Snuggerud scored on a one-timer from the dot off a feed from Robert Thomas, who has points in each of his last six games.
Anaheim pulled Husso with more than five minutes left, and Suter's ninth of the season with 4:02 left cemented the Blues' season-best four-game winning streak.