Justin Faulk scored the decisive power-play goal as the St. Louis Blues defeated the visiting Anaheim Ducks 3-1 for their seventh consecutive victory.
Noel Acciari scored twice for the Blues, including an empty-netter, and goaltender Jordan Binnington made 27 saves.
Cam Fowler scored, and John Gibson made 24 saves for the Ducks, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
The Blues scored just 11 seconds into the game when Ivan Barbashev dumped the puck into Anaheim’s zone, Brayden Schenn stole the puck from Ducks defenseman Fowler on the forecheck and fed Acciari for his clean break-in.
Colton Parayko nearly scored on the next Blues shift on a two-on-one break, but his shot rolled wide after bleeding through Gibson.
The Ducks controlled the rest of the period while outshooting the Blues 15-9. They finally tied the game 1-1 with 17.5 seconds left with a lucky carom.
Isac Lundestrom circled the back of the net and put a shot on goal from the right circle. The weak-side rebound went to Fowler at the left point and he shot wide, but the puck bounced off the knee of Blues defenseman Nick Leddy and into the net.
The Blues got a golden power-play scoring opportunity in the first minute of the second period. Jordan Kyrou broke in alone, but Gibson stayed with his double move and made the save.
With just over seven minutes left in the period, the Blues nearly converted a goalmouth scramble. With Barbashev and Schenn whacking away at the puck in the crease, it slipped through Gibson and just short of the goal line before the Ducks swept it away.
Pavel Buchnevich had a short-handed breakaway for the Blues in the third period, but he lost control of the puck as he broke in alone on Gibson.
Faulk decided the game with his man-advantage goal with 4:13 left off a Robert Thomas assist. Acciari iced the game with his empty-net goal with 19 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
