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ANAHEIM — To conclude a homestand that was equal parts exhilarating and successful, the Ducks served up a painfully flat effort against the St. Louis Blues, falling 4-0 at Honda Center on Sunday evening.
The Ducks ended up with 14 of a possible 18 points on their nine-game, 36-day homestand that spanned the Olympic break and included thrilling comeback after thrilling comeback.
But on Sunday, they were shut out for the fourth time this season, though they remained perched atop the Pacific thanks to a Vegas loss at home to Edmonton.
“We weren’t very good, but give the other team credit, man, were they good. That’s as good of a team game and structure as we’ve seen played all year long,” said Ducks coach Joel Quenneville of the heretofore struggling Blues. “They got off to a good start and we never really got on track all game long.”
After losing eight out of nine games, the Blues became winners of five of their past six and four straight.
“You’re seeing players that are confident, they want the puck. You’re seeing players making a lot of hard plays, but making it look easy, in traffic,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of his team’s recent about-face.
Ducks backup Ville Husso got the call against the club that drafted and developed him, making 32 of 35 saves in a noble showing. The Ducks’ power play, which had been converting at a respectable 23.8% clip since the pause, went 0-for-6 on Sunday.
Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Drouin, Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter each had a goal, with Snuggerud tacking on an assist. Longtime Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler chipped in an assist and drew a plaudit from Montgomery. Joel Hofer stopped all 22 pucks sent his way for his fifth shutout, second in the NHL this season behind the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin.
“They executed well, they made it hard to get chances off the rush and they kind of kept everything to the outside. They did a good job of doing that and we just couldn’t figure it out,” said defenseman Jackson LaCombe, recognizing the Blues’ effective penalty kill as well.
There would be no defiance of the odds by the Ducks on Sunday, when their third period came and went without a goal, just as the first two had.
St. Louis and Snuggerud nearly cushioned their lead, but the goal was nullified due to an offside entry. The visitors went up 4-0 just the same when Suter scored into the empty net with 4:02 to play.
After a strong start, St. Louis remained imposing in the second period, breaking the game open with three goals at the 4:22, 10:07 and 12:11 marks. The lone spark from the hosts was Ross Johnston’s decisive fight win against Tyler Tucker, though Johnston was assessed a major penalty for boarding on the hit that provoked the conflict.
Snuggerud had already made it 3-0 with a one-timer from the inner part of the right circle after Husso’s failed rim-around was dug out of the corner by Robert Thomas. Thomas, the subject of trade-deadline speculation galore, has 10 points across a six-game scoring streak.
Drouin had extended the Blues’ lead with a man-advantage marker. After they reversed the puck to the left side and then back to the right, he hammered a one-timer from just above the faceoff dot for his first goal in white, blue and yellow. He was acquired from the New York Islanders as part of a deadline deal for now-former St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn.
To open the scoring, Kyrou struck off the rush, receiving a sweeping pass at the defensive blue line and zooming all the way up ice for a goal. He looked dangerous in the opening frame as well, when he had two shots and hit the post with a third attempt.
The Blues nearly doubled up the Ducks on shots in the first period, 13-7, despite having to kill three penalties. Yet the game remained scoreless at the first intermission.
“We weren’t really getting anything going; it wasn’t our best,” said forward Mikael Granlund, who played for the first time since returning from Milan with a bronze medal. “We’ve just got to move forward, and obviously, overall, it was a pretty good home stretch here.”
The Ducks will next travel north of the border for a four-game road swing through Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
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