Ducks fall again to streaking Blues
Justin Faulk had a power-play goal late in the third period and the St. Louis Blues extended their winning streak to seven games with a 3-1 win over the Ducks on Monday night
Faulk’s goal broke a 1-1 tie with 4:13 left in the game. The Blues’ winning streak is the longest in NHL history for a team immediately following a losing streak of eight games or more in regulation play.
“We want to play well and we’re building and that’s what we wanted to be since the beginning of the year,” Faulk said. “We just know that we have to commit to the details of the game every night and there’s never an easy night.”
Noel Acciari scored in the first period and added an empty-netter to seal the win. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves for St. Louis, which also beat the Ducks on Saturday night at Enterprise Center.
“It’s one game at a time, one day at a time,” Binnington said. “That’s a tighter game than I think we wanted. We’ve got to recognize that and just stay on ourselves . and everyone keep that focus.”
Cam Fowler scored and John Gibson made 24 saves for the Ducks, who have lost six of their last seven games and still seek their first regulation win, 19 games into the season.
“We can look at the positives as best we can, but our power play had a chance to put the game away, a couple opportunities,” Fowler said. “We didn’t get the job done, they did. That’s the hockey game.”
Acciari gave the Blues the lead just 11 seconds into the game. Brayden Schenn set it up by stealing the puck from Fowler and feeding it to a wide open Acciari in front of the net.
Cam Fowler and Adam Henrique each recorded a goal and an assist Saturday night, but the Ducks lost 6-2 on the road to the streaking St. Louis Blues.
“He’s played well from the get-go for me,” Blues coach Craig Berube said of Acciari. “The effort he gives every night and the details in his game are excellent.”
It was the sixth-fastest goal to start a game in Blues history. Alexander Steen and Greg Paslawski share the record at eight seconds.
“We’re starting to get some bounces and I think the confidence for some guys is starting to kind of come back from that eight game skid,” Acciari said.
Fowler made up for the early miscue by tying the game with just 17.5 seconds left in the first, banking a shot off Blues defenseman Nick Leddy’s leg.
Anaheim killed off a pair of Blues power plays in a scoreless second period. Gibson made a sprawling glove save on a Jordan Kyrou chance in the first man advantage.
“When you’re winning it’s fun, and everyone’s having fun, and things are going right,” Acciari said.
Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk returned to the lineup after missing four games with a lower-body injury.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
