Blues tie club record with ninth straight home win, 4-1 over Ducks

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alexander Steen scored the first goal and Brayden Schenn added two assists, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 victory Monday night over the Anaheim Ducks.

The Blues won their ninth straight home game, tying the franchise record for one season set in 1991. The run marks the longest home winning streak in the NHL this season. St. Louis has outscored its opponents 36-15 during the streak.

Tyler Bozak, Jaden Schwartz and Ivan Barbashev also scored for the Blues, who have won four in a row after a three-game skid. The defending Stanley Cup champions are 12-2-1 in their past 15 games.

Through 47 games, the Blues (30-10-7) are tied for first in the NHL (67 points) with the Washington Capitals.

Max Comtois had the lone goal for Anaheim, which has lost four straight. The Ducks are 3-9-1 in their past 13 games.

Backup goaltender Jake Allen improved to 8-3-3 for St. Louis. He stopped 20 shots.

Ducks goalie John Gibson made 30 saves and fell to 13-19-3. He is 1-5-1 in his last seven starts.

The Blues have 17 wins at home this season (17-4-3), most in the NHL. One of their four home losses in regulation came against the Ducks, who won 4-1 in St. Louis on Nov. 16. In fact, the road team won the previous seven meetings between the teams.

Two goals in the second put St. Louis ahead 3-1. The Blues dominated the period, attempting a season-high 22 shots to 10 for Anaheim.

Bozak gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead 2:21 into the second. A shovel pass from Mackenzie MacEachern found Bozak, who beat Gibson for the goal. Robert Thomas stole the puck twice before he passed to MacEachern, setting up the scoring chance.

Schwartz tapped the puck into an open net for a power-play goal at 9:41. From the right circle, Schenn fed Schwartz, who was cutting to the net on the left side for an easy shot.

Steen slammed in a slap shot from the left circle at 7:53 of the first. Robert Bortuzzo wound up and shot from the right circle. The puck hit the stick of Anaheim’s Sam Steel and bounced off the pad of Gibson. The puck went to Steen and his shot hit the top of Gibson’s arm as he was trying to get back into position.

After not scoring in 28 games, Steen has three goals in his last three games.

The Ducks tied it at 15:22 when Comtois fired a wrist shot from the top of the slot. The puck went through the legs of a screened Allen to make it 1-all.

Barbashev got the puck from behind the net and scored an unassisted goal at 10:29 of the third period for a 4-1 lead. Gibson left the puck for Hampus Lindholm, who ran into him. Barbashev scooped up the loose puck and poked it in.

Jake Allen on Niko Mikkola‘s strong play: “It’s impressive. I think every single game he’s gotten better. … He’s earned a spot to stay in the lineup right now. He’s playing well, he’s confident, he’s big, he’s rangy — good for him.” #stlblues pic.twitter.com/pN6Z0UUfVx

— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) January 14, 2020

NOTES: The Blues are 21-0-5 when scoring first. They are the only NHL team without a regulation loss after scoring first this season. … St. Louis is 20-0-5 when leading after two periods. … Blues D Colton Parayko missed his fifth game and is day to day with an upper-body injury. The club said he has been skating with the team and is close to returning. … Ducks RW Jakob Silfverberg missed his third game with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Ducks: At the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

Blues: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.