Ryan Reeves (75) of the Blues attempts a shot against the Ducks (photo courtesy/NHL.com)
The St. Louis Blues have yet to score a goal since their return from the Olympics. After losing 1-0 to Vancouver on Wednesday night, the Blues were shut down by Jonas Hiller who made 18 saves in a 1-0 victory for the Western Conference leading Anaheim Ducks. The Blues lost all three matchups against the Ducks this season and will not play them in the regular season again.
Andrew Cogliano tied a career-high with his 18th goal at 3:39 of the first period. He lifted a backhander past goalie Brian Elliott after getting a feed from Saku Koivu who fed him in on a breakaway.
Getting shut out was not because of lack of effort. In addition to the 18 shots on goal, the Blues had 27 shots blocked and missed the net on more occasions.
“We’ve had two games now where we have a ton of zone time,” coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We’re not finding the net. We’re not hitting the net and when we do have the chances, we’re missing the net. I think that’s probably the biggest case right now: we’re not shooting for second shots. I think we’re trying to score from too far out, and I think we’re not as accurate as we were before.”
The Blues, who earlier on Friday made a trade with Buffalo for goalie Ryan Miller, will play Phoenix on Sunday to wrap up a three game road trip. Miller is expected to join the team for that game.