St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer stopped 29 shots in 65 minutes and then made five more saves in an eight-round shootout as the Blues beat the Utah Mammoth 1-0 on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
In posting his second shutout of the season, Hofer outdueled Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka, who made 22 saves through regulation and overtime. Vejmelka recorded four stops in the shootout, which St. Louis won 3-2.
The Blues won their second straight game, while the Mammoth took their fourth straight defeat (0-2-2).
In a drama-filled defensive duel, St. Louis appeared to have scored twice, including once in overtime, against a depleted Mammoth squad before finally getting the win on Connor McMichael’s successful attempt in the eighth round of the shootout.
The Blues thought they took the lead with 5:25 left in the second period when Mason McTavish put the puck in the net. However, after a Mammoth challenge, the replay review showed McTavish was offside as he entered the zone before the puck.
Then in the 3-on-3 overtime period, St. Louis defenseman Philip Broberg’s shot was initially ruled to have passed the goal line with 2:18 left in the five-minute session. However, the replay showed that his shot bounced off the crossbar instead.
Utah played without three of its top scorers. Logan Cooley, the team’s leading goal-scorer with 11 and second on the club with 21 points, missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
Nick Schmaltz, who ranks second on the Mammoth with nine goals and tied for third with 20 points, was a game-time scratch after sustaining a lower-body injury on Wednesday in Las Vegas. Dylan Guenther, whose six goals are third on the team, was placed on injured reserve prior to the Wednesday game.
Utah’s Vincent Trocheck started the scoring in the shootout in the first round, only to be matched immediately by Jake Neigbours. Hofer and Vejmelka traded stops until Michael Carcone scored in the seventh round for Utah. Jimmy Snuggerud answered for St. Louis.
Barrett Hayton’s miss opened the door for McMichael’s deciding tally.