ANAHEIM — Zach Sanford had two goals and an assist for the St. Louis Blues in a 5-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Monday.
“I think I’ve been a lot better with the details,” Sanford said. “That’s where my game starts, and I think everything has gone a step up the last few games.”
Dakota Joshua scored in his first NHL game, and Ville Husso made 29 saves for the Blues (12-8-2), who have won seven straight road games against the Ducks.
Isac Lundestrom scored his first NHL hat trick, and John Gibson made 30 saves for the Ducks (6-11-5), who are 0-5-2 in their past seven games.
“We played great hockey in the third period and we’ve just got to keep doing that for 60 minutes,” Lundestrom said. “I mean, we’ve got to keep the puck with the team and get some shots on the net and crash the net a little bit more.”
The teams play here again Wednesday.
Sanford and Joshua scored 13 seconds apart in the second period to give the Blues a three-goal lead.
Sanford deflected a point shot from Vince Dunn on a power play to make it 3-1 at 12:45.
Joshua scored when a centering pass deflected off his body as he skated toward the crease to make it 4-1 at 12:58.
Joshua, a 24-year-old forward, was promoted from the taxi squad Monday and entered the lineup for forward Jacob de la Rose, who sustained a lower-body injury in a 7-6 win at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
“I was just driving hard to the net and I got a nice greasy one for the first one,” Joshua said. “It was a great moment.”
Lundestrom scored on a wraparound 34 seconds into the third period to make it 4-2 and on a deflection at 15:16 to get Anaheim within 4-3.
“I just want to keep going and playing my own game here,” Lundestrom said. “Of course, good confidence from this game for myself and I just want to keep building on that.”
Sanford made it 5-3 on a shorthanded empty-net goal with 1:20 remaining.
The Ducks pulled within 5-4 with one minute left on a goal by Ryan Getzlaf.
Anaheim scored first for the fourth straight game when Lundestrom’s wrist shot from just below the left face-off dot banked off the far post for a 1-0 lead at 5:04 of the first period.
Jordan Kyrou tied it 1-1 with 57 seconds left in the first when he scored off a give-and-go with Ryan O’Reilly.
Kyrou was called for a double minor for high sticking later in the opening period, but Husso made eight saves on the ensuing Ducks power play.
David Perron gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead when he scored off a 2-on-1 at 6:35 of the second period.
“We’re staying with pucks,” Perron said. “We did have meetings to talk about that on both sides of the puck, critical areas of the ice that we can get to more and score. Critical areas that we have to cover, so we give less Grade A scoring chances against.”
NOTES: Sanford has five points (three goals, two assists) in the past two games. … Joshua is the 17th Blues player to score in his NHL debut, and the first since Wade Megan on Dec. 22, 2016. … Lundstrom, at 21 years, 115 days, is the second-youngest player in Ducks history to score a hat trick. Sam Steel was 21 years, 51 days when he scored three goals March 26, 2019. … Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm missed a fourth game in the past five with an unspecified injury. … Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, five assists).
