Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich score in 1st period, helping Blues past Ducks 3-1

Nov 20, 2023, 10:42 am

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- — Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich scored in the first period and the St. Louis Blues snapped a two-game California losing steak with a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.

Joel Hofer made 30 saves as the Blues won on the second night of a back-to-back after falling 5-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. St. Louis had given up a combined 10 goals in consecutive games at San Jose and Los Angeles.

Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Blues, who improved to 1-2 during a stretch in which they will play six of seven games on the road.

Mason McTavish scored and John Gibson made 28 saves as Anaheim dropped its third straight game, matching an early season high. The Ducks are 0-2 in the openers of a four-game homestand and have lost five of seven following a six-game winning streak.

The Blues took a 1-0 lead at 9:25 of the first period when Oskar Sundqvist stole a pass in the Ducks’ zone and quickly fed Neighbours for his fourth of the season. Buchnevich made it 2-0 on the power play at 16:34 of the opening period when he jammed home a pass from Jordan Kyrou, his sixth of the season.

St. Louis was 3 for 46 on the power play, an NHL-low 6.5%, before Buchnevich scored with the man advantage.

The Blues opened a three-goal lead at 5:39 of the second period when Toropchenko sent a spinning shot past Gibson for his third of the season.

The Ducks got on the board at 8:47 of the second when McTavish pulled in a loose puck in front of Hofer and flipped a shot into the top of the Blues’ goal, his eighth.

Ducks defenseman Urho Vaakanainen twice has celebrated his first career goal over the past week, only to have the milestone moment taken away.

Vaakanainen appeared to score the opening goal in the first period Sunday when he flipped the puck into the air and redirected it past Hofer. But, the play was ruled offside after a replay review.

The 24-year-old from Finland was playing his 82nd game over parts of six seasons.

UP NEXT

Blues: Visit the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.

Ducks: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

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