EDMONTON, Alberta: Jaroslav Halak couldn’t have asked for a better return in his first start in nearly two weeks.
Halak made 19 saves to record his third shutout of the season as the St Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 yesterday.
“It’s always good to get back in action in a game,” said Halak, who had only played in three of the Blues’ previous 10 games and made his first start since March 10.
“It’s a big win for me and for the team. Looking at the shots it may have seemed easy, but if you ask any goalie around the league, they want to face more shots as they can. But I’ll take it. A shutout is a shutout.”
Chris Stewart, Alexander Steen and TJ Oshie scored for the Blues, who have won six of their last eight games.
“We checked very well and managed the puck the right way,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We got better as the game went on, too. Our best period was our third period. We used four lines right to the end of the hockey game. It was a very effective game for us. We did a lot of very good things today.”
The Oilers have lost three of their last four, although two of those went beyond regulation.
Edmonton head coach Ralph Krueger admitted it was not the kind of performance he wanted to see as his team fights to stay in the playoff hunt.Agencies
