Ducks start strong, cruise past Blues

ST. LOUIS — Mason McTavish and Pavel Mintyukov each scored first-period goals and fill-in goaltender Ville Husso made 22 saves to help the Ducks beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1, on Monday night.

Husso, a former Blues netminder, was pressed into the lead role for the Ducks with Lukas Dostal and Petr Mrazek sidelined by injuries.

Leo Carlsson also scored, Chris Kreider added an empty-net goal for the Ducks, who successfully killed off six St. Louis power plays and snapped their 10-game losing streak against the Blues.

Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, and Joel Hofer made 19 saves on 20 shots in relief of Jordan Binnington.

The Ducks seized a 1-0 lead 6:33 into the game when McTavish hammered a one-time shot from the left wall past Binnington’s short side for his sixth goal of the season.

Beckett Sennecke assisted on McTavish’s goal to give him points in eight straight games, matching Paul Kariya for the longest points streak by a Ducks rookie.

Kyrou answered just 20 seconds later with his team-leading eighth goal. Robert Thomas maneuvered in from the left wing and slid a cross-ice pass to Kyrou breaking toward the right post.

The Ducks chased Binnington midway through the first period when Mintyukov beat him with a shot off the rush from the right boards for a 2-1 lead.

The teams exchanged 2-on-1 rushes during a scoreless second period, but Blues winger Dalibor Dvorsky missed the net on his break with Pavel Buchnevich and Kreider couldn’t beat Hofer after taking a cross-ice pass from Cutter Gauthier.

During the final two minutes of the period, the teams exchanged offensive flurries. But Hofer made tough saves at one end, then the Blues failed to convert passes and redirections around the net at the other end.

The Blues had chances to tie the score early in the third period. But Husso stopped Kyrou at point-blank range, then he turned aside Thomas’ shot from the right faceoff dot off the rush.

The Ducks increased their lead to 3-1 at the 5:58 mark when Carlsson deflected Radko Gudas’ shot from the right point. It was his 14th goal of the season and his third in the past four games.

With Hofer pulled for an extra attacker, Kreider scored an empty-net goal with 2:37 left to make it 4-1.

St. Louis was playing without forwards Jimmy Snuggerud, who will miss at least six weeks after being placed on injured reserve with a left wrist injury that will require surgery, and Alexey Toropchenko who is week to week after sustaining scalding burns on his legs in an accident at home.

The Blues recalled rookie forward Aleksanteri Kaskimaki from the club’s AHL affiliate in Springfield, but he didn’t arrive in time for the game due to travel delays forcing Blues coach Jim Montgomery to dress seven defensemen and 11 forwards.

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The Ducks host Utah on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to open a three-game homestand.