Agostino helps Blues beat Flyers 2-0 (Feb 06, 2017)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) The St. Louis Blues kicked off a big five-game trip with a solid performance in Philadelphia.
Carter Hutton led the way.
Hutton had 26 saves, Kenny Agostino scored his first goal in almost three years and the Blues beat the Flyers 2-0 on Monday night.
''We battled, played tight defensive hockey, and found a way,'' Hutton said.
Paul Stastny also scored for St. Louis, which won for the second time in three games after coach Mike Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1, following a 1-5-0 stretch. Hutton, who allowed 13 goals in his three previous appearances, posted his first shutout since Jan. 24 and No. 3 on the season.
''He looked like a confident goalie tonight,'' Yeo said. ''He was great right from the start. He looked calm in the net but was still challenging and getting aggressive.''
Michal Neuvirth made 14 stops for Philadelphia, which was coming off a 1-0 overtime loss to Los Angeles on Saturday. It has dropped three of four overall.
It marks the first time the Flyers have been shut out in consecutive home games without a road game in between since 1999. Philadelphia also lost rookie forward Travis Konecny in the second period with an undisclosed injury.
The Flyers' three leading goal-scorers, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek, have not scored in their past four games.
''Obviously, in this league you have to play good defense, but you also have to score goals and we're not generating enough Grade A opportunities,'' said Schenn, who has one goal in his last nine games.
Voracek, who has one goal in his last 14 games, recorded four shots in the loss.
''It's tough for us and it's tough for the fans,'' Voracek said. ''They pay a lot of money to see some goals and unfortunately, we just couldn't get one.''
The Blues won despite being held to a season-low 16 shots. It was just the third time this season they have been held to fewer than 20 shots.
The 24-year-old Agostino was recalled from the minors when the team announced Sunday that forward Robby Fabbri will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Agostino was leading the AHL with 60 points (18 goals, 42 assists) in 48 games.
He scored on a breakaway 2:10 into the third period, beating Neuvirth under the crossbar to give the Blues a 2-0 lead. It was his first NHL goal since April 4, 2014, as a rookie with the Calgary Flames.
''(David) Perron just sprung me with a great pass and I had a lot of time,'' said Agostino, who signed a one-year contract with the Blues last summer. ''It looked like (Neuvirth) was leaning a little bit to the left so I went top right and it worked out.''
After a scoreless first period in which the Flyers outshot the Blues 11-1 but failed to score on two power-play opportunities, St. Louis jumped in front on a crafty redirection by Stastny with 4:38 remaining in the second.
Stastny turned his right skate to change the direction of Kevin Shattenkirk's point shot for his 15th goal of the season and his third in three games. The Flyers challenged the goal, contending Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson failed to keeping puck inside the offensive zone just before the score, but replays were deemed inconclusive.
NOTES: Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere, who has gone 27 games without a goal and is a team-worst minus-19, was a healthy scratch for the third straight game.
UP NEXT
Blues: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Flyers: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
