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Guerin scores 350th career goal as Blues blank Red Wings

Feb 9, 2007 - 6:32 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The career milestones keep piling up for Bill Guerin.

The 36-year-old Guerin scored his team-leading 22nd goal in the second period and Manny Legace and Curtis Sanford combined for the shutout as the St. Louis Blues skated to a 1-0 triumph over the Detroit Red Wings.

It was the 350th career goal for Guerin, who participated in his fourth All-Star Game last month. A 15-year veteran, he recorded his 700th career point against the Nashville Predators on January 27 and played his 1,000th game Friday against the Red Wings.

Detroit was shut out for the first time in 176 games dating to January 7, 2004 against the Boston Bruins. The all-time record of 264 straight contests with at least one goal was set by the Calgary Flames from November 12, 1981-January 9, 1985.

"A blind dog finds a bone once in a while," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "I mean, everything happens once in a while. Give them full credit. They worked hard. They had a game plan, they stuck to it."

A former Red Wing, Legace stopped 10 shots for the Blues before leaving late in the second period after a collision with teammate Bryce Salvador and Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom.

"My feeling is that one of our defensemen was crowding Holmstrom," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "I do not think he would intend to run a goalie over. If I feel differently, I will tell you tomorrow.

"What I always say about goalies is, they picked the life. They could have been forwards or defensemen. They wanted to be goalies, so that is what they have to live with."

Legace was making his 40th appearance of the season and had played in 23 of St. Louis' last 25 contests.

"The puck was really blurry," Legace said. "I decided it is not good to face this. Against these guys, if you are a second too slow, the puck will beat you. I thought it was better for the team to get me out of the net."

Sanford came on and made 13 saves, including a glove stop on Pavel Datsyuk's wrist shot from the slot with 4:20 left and another on Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom's blast from the point as time ran out.

"I'm just doing my job," Sanford said. "I'm glad I got a chance to play and do something good for the team."

"We needed them to come up big, and they did," Murray said. "I was a spectator. I enjoyed the ride like everybody else in the building."

Guerin caught a break on his goal as his shot from the right corner was stopped by netminder Joey MacDonald. However, the rebound deflected off Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios and bounced across the goal line at 5:01 of the middle session.

"We were just trying to throw as many pucks at the net as we could, and that time, we got a break," Guerin said.

"He threw the puck at the net," MacDonald said. "I made the save. It bounced in the air, hit (Chelios) and went in. It was just one of those things nobody could do anything about. Both goalies were making good saves, and you knew the game was going to be won or lost by a bounce like that."

Early in the third period, Guerin had a great chance to give the Blues some breathing room but was stopped on a 2-on-1 rush as his shot hit MacDonald's left pad.

St. Louis raised its record to 8-3-3 under Murray and posted its first regulation victory in seven meetings this season with the Red Wings, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

"Everybody made an effort to get pucks on net," Murray said. "We were good defensively, and that generates good offensive chances."

Playing for just the sixth time this campaign, MacDonald registered 29 saves for the Red Wings, who fell to 15-12-3 on the road.