The St. Louis Blues outshot the Montreal Canadiens by a wide margin but could not solve goaltender Jacob Fowler, falling 2-0 on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center in their second consecutive shutout loss.
Zachary Bolduc, a former Blues first-round pick, opened the scoring with a snap-shot one-timer from the right circle at 8:37 of the second period. Mike Matheson and Alexandre Texier assisted on the goal, which stood as the game-winner. Florian Xhekaj added Montreal’s second tally early in the third, tipping a Matheson shot past Jordan Binnington for his first NHL goal. Kirby Dach also assisted. The play underwent a brief video review before being confirmed.
Fowler was the difference, turning aside all 46 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season and the third of his career. He stopped 24 of those attempts in the third period alone as the Blues pushed aggressively. The 21-year-old extended his personal winning streak to six games. Binnington stopped 18 of 20 shots for St. Louis.
The Blues (5-6-1) controlled the shot clock, finishing with a 46-20 edge (9-13-24 by period) and winning the faceoff battle. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play. St. Louis also held edges in hits (26-19) while Montreal blocked 18 shots. Despite the territorial advantage, particularly during a heavy third-period push, the Blues were unable to convert chances against Fowler’s steady play.
The loss marks the second straight time the Blues have been held scoreless, following a 4-0 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. They had won the first two games of their current homestand before the recent setbacks. The Canadiens improved to 7-3-2 with their third consecutive road victory.
St. Louis returns to action Thursday against the Boston Bruins at Enterprise Center.
