Blues 7, Panthers 0
ST. LOUIS -- Jaroslav Halak knows any time you pass a Hall of Famer in the record books, it has been a good day.
Halak stopped 19 Florida shots to post his 17th career shutout as the goalie for the St. Louis Blues, breaking a tie with Glenn Hall for the most shutouts in franchise history as the Blues routed the Florida Panthers 7-0 Saturday night.
Halak, who had stopped 28 of 30 shots in a season-opening win against Nashville on Thursday, benefitted from a strong Blues defense, which helped kill off six Florida power-play opportunities, keeping St. Louis perfect on 10 shorthanded situations in their first two games.
It was Halak's 26th career shutout in the NHL, including nine during his time with Montreal before he was traded to the Blues before the 2010-11 season. It was his first shutout since March 23.
Hall had his 16 shutouts with the Blues between 1967-71.
Brenden Morrow scored the only goal the Blues would need at 14:58 of the first period, knocking a rebound of a shot by Derek Roy past Florida goalie Tim Thomas. The power-play goal was Morrow's first as a member of the Blues and the 250th of his NHL career. It was the Blues' third power-play goal in six chances in their first two games.
The Blues blitzed Thomas, playing his second game after a 17-month absence in the league, for four goals in the second period to take a 5-0 lead. The final goal of the period came on a penalty shot by Alexander Steen. Steen was awarded the penalty shot after he was dragged down while breaking toward the net by Erik Gudbranson.
Roy, like Morrow, a free-agent addition to the Blues this season, also scored his first goal with his new team. The other two goals in the period came from Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz as the Blues scored four times on 14 shots.
Thomas was replaced by Jacob Markstrom at the start of the third period and he allowed the final two St. Louis goals, by Ryan Reaves and Patrik Berglund. Ten players have scored the 11 goals for the Blues in the first two games, with Steen the only player who has scored twice.
NOTES: F Alexander Steen was in the Blues lineup after spending Friday at the dentist's office. He lost two teeth when he was hit by a high stick in Thursday night's game. ... The Panthers are opening the season with a four-game road trip, and actually will be in St. Louis for four days between games. Some of the players attended the Cardinals playoff game Thursday and some will be at the Rams game Sunday. The Panthers next play in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. ... When Florida's Aleksander Barkov, the second overall pick in last June's draft, scored a goal in his NHL debut Thursday night in Dallas, the 18-year-old center became the eighth-youngest player to score a goal in NHL history and the youngest since Ted Kennedy scored for Toronto on Jan. 8, 1944. ... The Blues will continue a season-opening five game home stand hosting the Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.
