The St Louis Blues forced a goaltender change for the second straight game, but this time they were able to hold onto the lead, as Robert Thomas’ two goals paced the Notes to a 6-2 basting of the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Enterprise Center.

Thomas opened the scoring with an unassisted goal nearly three minutes into the contest. That was the first of four Blues goals in the first period, as Tyler Tucker, Jordan Kyrou and Dylan Holloway all scored. Nikita Nesterenko deflected a shot into goal to get his first goal of the year and put the Ducks on the board with four minutes left in the period.

The Blues added their remaining two goals in the second period, with Pavel Buchnevich assisting on Thomas’ second goal, then scoring his own four minutes later. That final goal forced Lukas Dostal out of the net, having saved 16 of the Blues’ 22 shots at that point. John Gibson recorded 12 saves afterward, while the Ducks would only pick up Sam Colangelo’s first goal of the year late in the second. The Ducks made 23 shots on goal, with Joel Hofer recording 21 saves.

The win moves St Louis to 44 points, nine points behind Dallas for third in the Central but just two points behind Vancouver for the second wild card spot in the West. Both Dallas and Vancouver have three games in hand. The home stand continues for the Blues on Sunday night at 6 p.m., when they host Columbus.