Returning players push Blues past Ducks

[January 24, 2019]  Zach Sanford and Tyler Bozak scored goals in their return from injured reserve, and the visiting St. Louis Blues went on to an easy 5-1 victory Wednesday over the Anaheim Ducks in the final game for each team before the All-Star break.

Vladimir Tarasenko, Oskar Sundqvist and Sammy Blais also scored goals as the Blues overcame an early deficit to clinch their first winning month of the season (7-4-1). Jordan Binnington made 12 saves for St. Louis, which ended a three-game road losing streak.

Daniel Sprong scored for the Ducks, who have put up two goals or fewer in 11 of their past 16 games. Anaheim took just two shots in the first period, with Sprong delivering his eighth goal on the Ducks' first shot 6:44 into the contest.

The Ducks' 1-0 lead did not last long. Less than four minutes later, Tarasenko tied the score 1-1 with his 17th goal of the season, giving him points in three consecutive games. Brayden Schenn picked up a loose puck behind the Ducks' goal and fed Tarasenko out in front for the score.

Sanford, who missed the previous three games because of a concussion, made it an eventful return when he scored his sixth goal of the season at 2:04 of the second period. Sanford intercepted a pass at the Ducks' blue line and beat the Anaheim defense up the ice to score from the right circle.

Sundqvist made it a 3-1 lead at 7:41 of the second period, taking a Pat Maroon pass from the right side of the goal and redirecting the puck past Ducks goaltender John Gibson.

Bozak, who missed nine games due to a concussion, scored his seventh of the season at 8:42 of the third period for a 4-1 lead, redirecting the puck off the skate of the Ducks' Nick Ritchie. Less than a minutes later, Blais piled on for the Blues, scoring his second of the season.

Gibson, the Ducks' lone representative at the All-Star Game, has allowed at least five-plus goals in a game five times this season and twice in his past six games. He made 26 saves before he was pulled in the middle of the third period. Chad Johnson took over and stopped the only shot he faced.

The Ducks head into the break having lost 14 of their past 16 games, a stretch that included a franchise-worst 12-game losing streak.

Before the game, the Ducks announced that forward Ondrej Kase will undergo shoulder surgery for a torn shoulder labrum. He will miss five to six months.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.