ANAHEIM, Calif. — The St. Louis Blues achieved a pair of firsts Sunday night at Honda Center, both of which bode well for at least the immediate future and perhaps beyond.
For one, in their fourth try, they’ve finally swept a two-game series, dispatching the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 in a fan-free arena. As you may recall, they had won their first three series openers this season only to lose the second game each time — to Colorado (8-0), San Jose (2-1 in a shootout), and Los Angeles (6-3) if you’re scoring at home.
(They didn’t get a chance to win a series on Thursday in Vegas, with that game postponed because of COVID-19 issues among the Golden Knights.)
And now to No. 2. In his second NHL start, goalie Ville Husso got his first NHL victory, helped by two goals from Brayden Schenn. Over the long run, this could be even more important than winning Sunday’s game, because Jordan Binnington can’t start every game.
So the Blues are 6-2-1 and heading home after a 3-0-0 trip dimmed only by the COVID-19 postponement in Vegas. Anaheim fell to 3-5-2.
Granted, Anaheim doesn’t have the most potent attack around, but the Blues’ defense is settling in. And the offense is growing in confidence, with 21 goals over the last five games. Suddenly the Blues are among the top 10 teams in the league in goals per game.
As comfy as things looked from the final score; it was not the best of starts for the Blues. In fact, it looked a lot like their typical Game 2 blahs.
Remember those three goals they scored in the first 126 seconds Saturday against the Ducks? Of course you do. Well, on Sunday the Blues had only three shots on goal until the final minute of the first period. The Blues were quick to the penalty box and the Ducks were quick to convert.
Sammy Blais went off for tripping at the 4:47 mark, and it took the feeble Anaheim power play only seven seconds to capitalize. A shot from the left circle by Jacob Silfverberg appeared to deflect off Justin Faulk and underneath the glove of a screened Husso. So it was 1-0 Ducks.
Keep in mind, the Ducks entered the contest only one for 21 on the power play this season, holding the distinction of being the last team in the NHL to score a power-play goal this season. Just 1½ minutes after the Blais infraction, the Blues were back in the box via a hooking penalty against Schenn.
The Blues managed to kill that one, but even so the Ducks maintained the upper hand for most of the period. St. Louis was sloppy in its own zone with the puck, making curious decisions at times on where they were sending the puck.
As a result, they put Husso in jeopardy on several occasions, including a point-blank shot from the slot at the 12:30 mark that Husso turned away. With 4:37 remaining, Silfverberg hit the crossbar with a shot from only about 10 feet away.
The second period started with more of the same. The Blues couldn’t get anything going offensively. In fact, they didn’t get their first shot on goal until more than seven minutes in.
But they finally struck midway through the second to tie it on only their eighth shot on goal. Faulk skated into the right circle and sent the puck toward the net. If it was a deliberate attempt at a redirect, it took a diving Schenn to get there for a tip-in from 15 feet to make it a 1-1 game.
For all the accolades heading Jordan Kyrou’s way, and rightfully so, Schenn has been on a tear of his own. Not as flashy as Kyrou, but just as productive. Schenn’s fifth goal of the season extended his points streak to seven games — he has five goals and four assists over that stretch.
Less than 3 1/2 minutes later, Husso made the save of the night on what looked like a sure Anaheim goal. Andrew Agozzino, called up to the Ducks’ varsity earlier in the day from the American Hockey League, took a Max Comtois pass in front of the net with seemingly all kinds of space. But Husso somehow slid over to deny Agozzino.
Just 19 seconds later, the puck was in the other net. Hustling behind the Anaheim net, Robert Thomas dumped a pass in front to Mike Hoffman, it deflected off Hoffman — but right to Blais in the near slot for the go-ahead goal.
It was Blais’ first regular-season goal in nearly a year; his last one came Feb. 4 against Carolina. Blais was playing in his second consecutive game because of Tyler Bozak’s upper-body injury. The goal was the first for the Blues’ third line since Jan. 18, against San Jose — the Blues’ third game of the season.
Comtois was sent off for holding Vince Dunn with 42 seconds left in the second. Although the Blues didn’t score over those 42 seconds, they didn’t waste the power play.
With just 11 seconds left on the power play early in the third, Ryan O’Reilly sent a perfect set to Schenn in the slot for a one-timer that defected off the stick of former Blue David Backes and in. The assist extended O’Reilly’s points streak to five games (one goal, five assists) and gave the Blues a power-play goal in each of their last three games.
The 3-1 lead expanded to 4-1 just 70 seconds later when Colton Parayko struck from the right point for his first goal of the season. Again the hockey gods smiled on the Blues because this one deflected off Silfverberg about halfway between Parayko and the net.
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