Joel Hofer delivered a masterful 29-save shutout and Connor McMichael converted in the eighth round of a marathon shootout to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 1-0 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Thursday night at the Delta Center.
The win improved the Blues to 9-8-2 and marked their second straight victory after a three-game skid. Hofer earned his second shutout of the season and 10th of his NHL career, outdueling Utah’s Karel Vejmelka, who stopped all 22 shots he faced for his own second shutout of the year and 10th career clean sheet.
Regulation and overtime produced no goals in a tightly contested defensive battle. The Blues appeared to break through at 14:35 of the second period when Mason McTavish put the puck in the net, but Utah challenged for offside and the goal was overturned on video review. In overtime, Philip Broberg’s wrist shot from the right circle at 2:42 was initially ruled a goal before review confirmed it had hit the crossbar after slipping under Vejmelka’s arm. Jimmy Snuggerud also rang the right post early in the extra session.
The game headed to a shootout that stretched eight rounds. Vincent Trocheck scored for Utah in the first round, only for Jake Neighbours to answer immediately for St. Louis. The next five shooters for each side failed before Michael Carcone converted for the Mammoth in the seventh round. Snuggerud kept the Blues alive by scoring, and Barrett Hayton missed the net in the eighth. McMichael then beat Vejmelka with a snap shot to the top left corner to seal the win.
Neighbours and Snuggerud joined McMichael with successful shootout attempts for St. Louis. Both teams went scoreless on the power play (Blues 0-for-5, Mammoth 0-for-4).
The Mammoth dropped to 10-8-2 and have now lost four straight (0-2-2) and five of six, including a 5-3 defeat at Vegas on Wednesday. St. Louis returns home to face Florida on Saturday night, while Utah opens a five-game homestand by hosting San Jose.
