Blues goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 23 shots and stretched his shutout streak to 189:31 as the Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-0 on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. Elliott has rebounded from earlier this year when he struggled so bad that he was sent down to Peoria.
Ironically, it was an injury to Jaroslav Halak in this same building that forced Ken Hitchcock to turn to Elliott to keep the Blues season alive and he has more than stepped up.
Elliott and the Blues are the hottest team in the league have won six straight. Roman Polak’s first goal of the season 10:37 into the first period was all the offense Elliott needed. McDonald’s goal kept the Blues from being the first team in NHL history to win three consecutive 1-0 games on the road.
McDonald came in all alone on Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom after Victor Tarasenko made a one handed pass from his knees. McDonald lost control of the puck for a split second but went backhand through the five hole to make it a 2-0 game.
McDonald’s goal kept the Blues from being the first team in NHL history to win three consecutive 1-0 games on the road. Watch McDonald’s goal from NHL.com