DAN GREENSPAN
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Frederik Andersen has plenty of wins in his brief time with the Anaheim Ducks, but the goalie had never before stopped every puck sent his way.
That changed Sunday when Andersen turned away all 28 shots in his first career shutout, leading Anaheim to a resounding 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Andersen joined former Boston goalie Ross Brooks as the only two goalies in NHL history to win 25 of their first 30 starts. Andersen improved to 25-5 in his short career, but the young netminder was more excited about finally keeping a clean sheet.
“Oh, I knew. I knew I didn’t have one,” Andersen said. “That’s something you remember, obviously. It’s like the players when they get that first goal. They will remember it forever.”
Andersen, who never started five consecutive games during his rookie season, was rarely challenged as the Ducks (5-1-0) won their fifth straight with Andersen in net. They also extended their home winning streak against St. Louis to eight games.
“I think we just started playing like we wanted to,” Andersen said. “We came out really good defensively, and on offense, too, the whole 60 minutes. That was a really good team effort today.”
Andersen delivered his best save when he slid back across the crease and used his blocker to deny Alexander Steen on an odd-man rush early in the second period.
Sami Vatanen had his first career multigoal game for the Ducks, scoring with a pair of blistering one-timers on the power play.
Brian Elliott made 22 saves for the Blues (2-2-1), who went 1-1-1 on their road trip. St. Louis played without free-agent prize Paul Stastny, who sustained an upper-body injury Friday against Arizona.
“They were a step ahead of us most of the night,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “Thought their checking was a step ahead. Their puck support was a step ahead. They looked quicker on pucks and quicker to pucks than we were.”
Matt Beleskey collected a clever entry pass from Rickard Rakell and unleashed a slap shot past Elliott at 1:37 of the first period for his fourth goal of the season.
Anaheim sustained pressure early, but needed an impressive stick save by defenseman Clayton Stoner to thwart a golden chance for Jaden Schwartz.
“It’s expected to feel a little slow out there, but that is something you have to battle through,” Elliott said after the Blues’ third game in four nights. “The ice is a little softer out here, and you have to play smart hockey and know that the easy plays aren’t going to be there. Probably for half the game, we were not doing the things that make us successful.”
Vatanen made it 2-0 with a rocket shot from just inside the blue line late in the first period, leaving Elliott no time to react. Vatanen added his fifth career power-play goal with 15:37 left in the second, sending it in off a no-look pass from Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf.
“The other four guys did the work there,” said Vatanen, who became the sixth Anaheim defenseman with multiple power-play goals in a game. “I just got my stick on the ice and the puck comes there, and it was an empty net. I just needed to put it in.”
When the Ducks went back on the power play 2 minutes later, the Honda Center crowd screamed for Vatanen to shoot every time he touched the puck, but he said he never heard those pleas.
Getzlaf had two assists, but Corey Perry’s franchise-best streak of five games with a point to start the season came to an end.
NOTES: St. Louis D Petteri Lindbohm made his NHL debut, playing 14:05. C Jori Lehtera, who had one goal and two assists against Arizona, and D Jordan Leopold were scratched. … Anaheim RW Chris Wagner was a scratch after making his NHL debut against Minnesota on Friday. D Mark Fistric was scratched with flu-like symptoms and has yet to appear in a game this season.
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