Anaheim, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Frederik Andersen recorded his first career
shutout and the Ducks rolled to their fifth straight victory with a 3-0
whitewash of the St. Louis Blues.
Andersen stopped all 28 shots he faced, Sami Vatanen netted a pair of power
play goals and Matt Beleskey set the tone with a goal 1:37 into the game.
The Ducks improved to 7-0-1 in their past eight matchups against the Blues and
have won eight straight meetings at Honda Center.
St. Louis was playing on tired legs after netting six goals in a win against
the Coyotes on Saturday.
Brian Elliott made 22 saves and was the victim of an unlucky bounce less than
two minutes into the game.
The puck hit a linesman along the boards when Rickard Rakell was sending it
into the offensive zone, and the deflection caromed directly to Beleskey. With
the defense out of position, Beleskey had a clear shot on net and blasted one
into the left corner.
Late in the opening period, Vatanen started a rush with a crisp pass and had
the puck dropped to him off the boards. As he entered the zone, he fired a
slap shot in rhythm through a screen that beat Elliott.
Ryan Getzlaf set up Vatanen’s second goal in the middle stanza with a cross-
ice pass from one faceoff circle to the other.
Andersen, who has started in all five of Anaheim’s wins following its season-
opening loss in Pittsburgh, made 16 saves in the third period to keep the
Blues off the board.
Game Notes
Blues forward Paul Stastny sat out with an upper body injury … Elliott fell
to 1-5-2 against the Ducks … Getzlaf was credited with two assists.
