Blues' Joel Hofer shuts out Mammoth in defensive battle

Joel Hofer made 18 saves for his fourth career shutout as the St. Louis Blues blanked the visiting Utah Mammoth 1-0 on Saturday night.

Dylan Holloway scored for the Blues, who won consecutive games for the first time since Oct. 11-13.

Karel Vejmelka made 18 saves for the Mammoth, who lost key forward Logan Cooley to a lower-body injury in the third period. Cooley needed help leaving the ice after his knee-on-knee collision with Blues winger Alexey Toropchenko.

The Blues built a 7-1 shots advantage in the first nine minutes of the game. Vejmelka held the fort while stopping Holloway's rush from the left wing, Mathieu Joseph's wraparound shot, Colton Parayko's blast from the right faceoff dot and Toropchenko stuff attempt at the crease.

Utah got rolling midway through the first period and nearly took the lead when Clayton Keller fired a shot off the crossbar.

After outshooting the Mammoth 8-4 in the first 20 minutes, the Blues built the same edge during the second period. Vejmelka stopped Pavel Buchnevich's blast from the right circle, then Dalibor Dvorsky's wide-open follow shot.

Robert Thomas had a short-handed breakaway, but his shot missed the net.

The Mammoth had a few good chances in the second period, including a double tip by Kailer Yamamoto, and Dylan Guenther and Michael Carcone's opportunity on a 2-on-1 rush.

The Blues finally broke through with 1:50 left in the second period. Philip Broberg raced up the left wing and dropped a pass to Holloway, who snapped a shot past Vejmelka's far side to put St. Louis up 1-0.

After Toropchenko was assessed a five-minute major penalty for his collision with Cooley, the Mammoth had a chance take control with their extended power play.

But the Blues earned the best opportunity during that stretch with Nick Bjugstad's short-handed breakaway that Vejmelka stopped.

The Mammoth pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker at the end, but they failed to score 6-on-5.

--Field Level Media