ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brayden Schenn scored twice, Ville Husso got his first win as an NHL goaltender and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Sunday night.
Schenn is one of the NHL's hottest players with six goals in his last seven games. He also has four assists during that span, which is tied with Montreal’s Nick Suzuki and Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau for the longest points streak this season.
“It took us awhile tonight to get into our game. We knew they would push,” Schenn said. “Ville held us in it early tonight. He's very deserving of the win and has been waiting for this moment.”
midway through the second period with a highlight-reel goal. The center was in the slot and redirected Justin Faulk’s pass while diving. Schenn extended the Blues' lead to 3-1 on a power-play goal 67 seconds into the third.
“Most teams will try to box out. Once Faulk held the puck and had patience, I tried to get to the front of the net,” Schenn said.
Husso stopped 25 shots in his second start. The Finnish rookie had allowed nine goals in his two previous appearances this season, including five in his first start Jan. 24 against the Los Angeles Kings.
“The two previous games we were terrible in front of him,” center Ryan O’Reilly said. “We knew when he made some key saves early tonight that we had to get going and help him out.”
Husso stopped a couple of shots in the first period after the Blues turned it over in their defensive zone. His biggest save, though, occurred midway through the second when he stopped a point-blank shot from Rickard Rakell when it was tied 1-all. St. Louis carried that momentum to the other end of the ice shortly after the save when Sammy Blais scored the go-ahead goal.
“I was happy to get the win for sure,” said Husso, who turns 26 on Saturday. “When the guys in front of you score four goals, that is usually when you win.”
Colton Parayko also scored for St. Louis, which has four wins in the past five games. Robert Thomas had two assists.
Jakob Silfverberg scored for Anaheim, which has dropped three straight, and John Gibson made 19 saves.
Silfverberg opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game on the power play when his shot from the top of the left faceoff circle went under Husso's glove. The goal — Silfverberg's third of the season — was only Anaheim's second with the man advantage, tied with Minnesota for fewest in the league.
Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins thought his team had chances, but did not convert.
“We hit two posts and a crossbar," he said. "They get two goals in the third, one off one of our sticks and the other on an elbow. When our shots hit a stick or elbow, it goes to the corner. It hits us, and it goes into our net.”
After Schenn's first goal, Blais gave the Blues a 2-1 lead with five minutes remaining in the second period on a wrist shot that beat a screened Gibson to his stick side.
Parayko capped the Blues' scoring with a slap shot from the blue line that ricocheted off Silfverberg and then through Gibson's legs.
“We took a couple early penalties, but we got better as the game went along and capitalized some chances,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said.
OFFENSIVELY CHALLENGED
The Ducks are last in the league with 16 goals and have managed to score only once in five of their 10 games.
STREAKING ALONG
O'Reilly and David Perron each extended their points streak to five games with assists on Schenn's third-period goal. O'Reilly has five assists and six points during the streak, while Perron has four assists and eight points.
UP NEXT
St. Louis returns home Wednesday against Arizona to begin a four-game homestand.
The Ducks make the 30-mile bus ride to face the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday in this season's first installment of the Freeway Series.
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