Blues stay hot, shut out Ducks for 4th straight win

ANAHEIM -- Joel Hofer made 22 saves for the St. Louis Blues, who won their season-high fourth straight game with a 4-0 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday.

Hofer has five shutouts in his past 26 starts.

"He made some big saves to really keep us going and keep the momentum," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. "It was nice we were able to close it out for him. Shutouts are always a great team effort."

Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Drouin scored in his first game for the Blues (25-29-9), who swept a road trip of four games or more for the first time since the 2023-24 season.

"It's one of our most complete games of the year, that's for sure," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "I think it's been building here ever since the break, for whatever reason. We've been practicing at a higher pace and we've been playing at a higher pace."

Ville Husso made 31 saves in the finale of a nine-game homestand for the Ducks (35-25-3), who had won seven of their past eight games to move into second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights (72).

“(The Blues) defended really good," Ducks forward Mikael Granlund said. "We weren’t really getting anything going. It wasn’t our best. Just move forward. Overall, it was a pretty good home stretch here, so now we go on the road and let's try to keep it going.”

After a scoreless first period, the Blues scored three times in the second.

Jordan Kyrou gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 4:22 after bringing the puck into the Anaheim zone on a 3-on-1 breakaway and scoring over Husso's blocker with a snap shot.

St. Louis was on its second power play when Drouin scored into the far side of the net with a one-timer from the right face-off circle set up by Philip Broberg for a 2-0 lead at 10:07.

Drouin, as well as goalie Marcus Gidlof and first- and third-round picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, was acquired from the New York Islanders on Friday for forward Brayden Schenn. 

"I ended up in a good spot to shoot it and 'Brobie' put it right in my wheelhouse, and kind of hit the spot I wanted to hit," Drouin said. "Haven't scored in a while, so it was nice to get one and help the power play."

Snuggerud made it 3-0 at 12:11 when he scored with a snap shot from the right circle off a pass from out of the corner by Thomas.

"We all know he's got a great shot. He's a scorer and he's really finding his space in the slot now," Thomas said. "He's just continuing to grow. I think his playmaking, just from the start of the season until now, his patience with the puck -- there's so many good things he's doing right now and it's only going to get better."

Snuggerud thought he scored again from in close off a feed from Thomas at 12:19 of the third period, but the Ducks successfully challenged for offside.

Pius Suter scored into an empty net with 4:02 left for the 4-0 final.

The Ducks had three of the four power plays in the scoreless first period, but were outshot 13-7. 

They went 0-for-6 with the man-advantage with just two shots on goal.

"Might have had a decent one to start and after that we didn't get any zone time," Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. "They pressured. They got on us before we got anything moving around and going through. They cut off shots, they blocked a ton of shots tonight in 5-on-5 as well. They did what they had to do to be successful."

NOTES: The Blues have won 11 of their past 12 games against the Ducks and six straight at Honda Center. ... Snuggerud has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games ... Justin Holl also made his St. Louis debut after the 34-year-old defenseman was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings on Friday for defenseman Justin Faulk. Holl assisted on the empty-net goal. ... Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (back) missed his fifth straight game. ... The Blues have allowed nine goals in their first six games following the Olympic break. ... Thomas stretched his personal point streak to six games (five goals, five assists). ... Dylan Holloway assisted on Snuggerud's goal to give him nine points (four goals, five assists) in six games since returning from injury. ... Hofer is 4-0-0 since the Olympic break, and 4-0-0 against the Ducks in his NHL career. ... Granlund returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury sustained while playing for Team Finland in the bronze medal game at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. He was minus-2 in 18:44.