Blues score 3 in 3rd, top Ducks for 4th straight win

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues scored three power-play goals in the third period to extend their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Enterprise Center on Sunday.

"Just more direct," St. Louis forward Robert Thomas said. "I felt like we moved the puck well, just couldn't finish on those last plays in the first period, and we were able to do that in the third."

Thomas had two power-play goals, and Jake Neighbours and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Blues (36-29-3), who defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday. Pavel Buchnevich had three assists, and Joel Hofer made 26 saves.

"The turnaround, and them being fresher, we slowed the game down too much, and we didn't need to," St. Louis coach Drew Bannister said. "We could have played with a lot more pace, and I think when you look back at the Minnesota game, the first 40 minutes, we played with a lot of pace. We were direct. We looked like a real fast team. Today, we looked like a slow team."

Troy Terry scored twice for the Ducks (23-42-3), who have lost six straight (outscored 31-7). Lukas Dostal made 23 saves.

With the loss, Anaheim was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.

"I thought we played a good game," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. "I mean, we got them in a back-to-back. I thought we had energy and pop.

"Again, you can't win a game giving up three power-play goals, right?"

St. Louis scored three power-play goals in a 7:40 span in the third period.

Thomas put the Blues in front 2-1 at 1:53, scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle with Neighbours in front of the net.

Neighbours then made it 3-1 at 6:12 when he tipped in Brayden Schenn's shot from the left circle.

"I think it's effective. It's tough for a goalie to react when pucks are changing direction right in front of them," Neighbours said. "I'm trying to get better at it and work at it.

"I'm kind of lucky. I was trying to tip it down and it went up. I'll take the lucky bounce. That's 'Schenner' just being a smart shooter. He sees the goalie can't really see the release and just puts it in a good spot. I got a lucky bounce."

Thomas extended the lead to 4-1 at 9:33 with a shot from the right circle that was tipped past Dostal by Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe.

St. Louis went 0-for-3 on the power play in the first period before going 3-for-3 in the third.

"Sometimes you get stale," Thomas said. "We haven't been too good lately. It was nice to get rewarded. I think Jake did an incredible job in front of the net and was a big factor in all three of those goals."

Terry gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 13:41 of the first period, scoring on the rebound of Pavel Mintyukov's sharp-angle shot in the slot.

The goal was Anaheim’s first in 171:50 after being shutout in consecutive games.

"That helped," Terry said. "It's been an up-and-down road trip for us, obviously."

Hayes tied it 1-1 at 14:56 of the second period, cleaning up the rebound of Torey Krug's wrist shot in front.

After St. Louis pulled away with the three power-play goals, Terry scored with Dostal pulled for the extra skater at 19:52 for the 4-2 final.

"I think 5-on-5 we played a good game," Terry said. "We've got to find a way to limit these penalties.

"It's just kind of the story for a lot of our games this year."

NOTES: St. Louis has outscored its opponents 15-6 during its winning streak. … Thomas had just one goal and one assist in his previous seven games. ... The Blues won for just the eighth time (8-26-2) when giving up the first goal. … Buchnevich recorded his seventh three-point game of the season. Only Vladimir Tarasenko (nine in 2021-22) has had more in a season for St. Louis in the past 20 years. … Ducks forward Leo Carlsson, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, had an assist in 19:05 of ice time after missing eight games with a concussion. ... Anaheim forward Max Jones played 10:14 after missing the previuos three games with an illness.