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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Scott Young's quick hands and quick shot
make him a perfect complement for the playmaking skills of St.
Louis linemates Pierre Turgeon and Dallas Drake.
|  | | Pierre Turgeon flips the puck past Mighty Ducks goalie Guy Hebert in the third period Sunday. |
Young scored his fourth goal in three games as the Blues beat
the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 5-1 on Sunday. The veteran right wing
scored 24 goals in each of the previous two seasons with the Blues,
after recording only 13 in 73 games for the Ducks in 1997-98.
"If the first three games are any indication, he's going to be
one of our go-to guys," Blues captain Chris Pronger said. "He was
a big part of our offense last year, and he's scored some big goals
for us this year already. With Pierre and Dallas looking for him,
he's going to get a lot of chances. So if he stays patient and
finds the seams, they'll find him."
Turgeon found Young right in front of the net at 5:04 left in
the first period after taking the puck away from Anaheim defenseman
Pavel Trnka while the teams skated four-on-four. The goal gave St.
Louis a 2-0 lead less than 2 1/2 minutes after Ladislav Nagy opened
the scoring.
"He seems to have a lot of jump in his stride and his quickness
is noticeable," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He doesn't need
much of an opportunity to get his shot away, and it's a dangerous
shot. So I'd like to see him continue this because he looks like
he's ready to have a big year."
Turgeon and Jochen Hecht also scored goals and Pronger connected
on a power play for the Blues, who got two assists each from Lubos
Bartecko, Drake and Sean Hill. Roman Turek, who finished with 24
saves, lost his bid for a shutout when German Titov scored with
3:27 remaining.
The Ducks big line of Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Titov -- who
is playing center between the two All-Stars while Steve Rucchin
recovers from a broken left hand -- combined for eight shots against
Turek. Kariya and Selanne have not had a goal or an assist in
Anaheim's first two games.
"We just haven't generated anything," Kariya said. "When we
have gotten opportunities, we're not making passes. We're just off.
We're not creating the chances we should be, and that's a problem.
I don't have the answers for that right now."
Tyson Nash set up the first goal, getting the puck from Sean
Hill inside the Anaheim blueline and taking a wrist shot from close
range that was blocked by defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski. But Nagy,
who scored two goals in 11 games with the Blues last season,
collected the puck at Vishnevski's feet, deked goalie Guy Hebert to
his right and put in a backhander.
Hecht converted a pass from behind the net by Bartecko at 15:26
of the second, beating Hebert high to the glove side for a 3-0
cushion. It was the first goal this season by any member of the
Blues' high-scoring Slovakian line.
Center Michal Handzus has yet
to play this season because of an abdominal strain he suffered
shortly after ending his contract holdout a week into the
preseason.
Turek is 4-0-2 lifetime against the Ducks, who are 1-7-1 in
their last nine home games against St. Louis.
Game notes
The crowd of 11,134 was the smallest in the 270
regular-season games the Mighty Ducks have played at the Pond since
the team entered the NHL in 1993. The previous low was 12,047 spectators, who
witnessed a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Dec. 1, 1999. Friday night,
the Mighty Ducks failed to sell out the home-opener for the first
time in club history. ... St. Louis' season-opening four-game road
trip matches its longest to open a season in the franchise's
34-year history. It also happened in 1984-85, when the Blues
finished 37-31-12 and won the Norris Division title. ... Ducks
enforcer Jim Cummins received a game misconduct for being the third
man in during an altercation between teammate Patrick Traverse and
Reid Simpson with 8:46 remaining.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
St. Louis 5
Anaheim 1
Vancouver 5
Tampa Bay 4
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