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 The rest of the team, including himself, was going to have to
step up their game if the Blues were going to have a chance to beat
the Anaheim Ducks.
Allen more than did his part, recording the second shutout of his
career as the Blues, minus centers David Backes and Paul Stastny and
right wing T.J. Oshie because of injuries, snapped a four-game
losing streak against Anaheim with a 2-0 victory.
The win was the third in a row for the Blues -- over Chicago, Dallas
and the Ducks -- while Anaheim saw its streak of four consecutive
wins on the road snapped.
"Every team in the league is going to have losses (injured players)
all season long and unfortunately we have them right now," Allen
said. "They (the Ducks) are one of the best teams in the league with
so much firepower, guys were sacrificing themselves tonight and it
was a big win."
Allen had to stop just 24 shots on goal for his first shutout since
March 14, 2013. The Ducks had 13 shots in the first period, then
just 11 more over the final two periods.
 "We were standing around watching," said Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf.
"It's our responsibility as professionals to be ready to play. You
can make mistakes on the ice but not moving our legs and not being
mental between the ears is our fault."
Getzlaf said he thought part of the Ducks' problem might have been
thinking too much about who was out of the Blues lineup instead of
worrying about who was playing.
"We talked about it before the game and half of the problem is when
you talk about it and point it out, it gets everybody thinking about
it instead of just going out and playing," Getzlaf said.
Coach Bruce Boudreau agreed.
"They were a hungry team tonight," Boudreau said of the Blues. "We
talked about it before the game. Teams that are down some of their
best players, they dig deeper and they played as hard as they could.
If you are not ready to meet their work ethic then you are not going
to have success. They just worked harder."
Left wing Alexander Steen gave the Blues a 1-0 lead just 4:29 into
the game when he deflected a shot by defenseman Carl Gunnarsson past
goalie John Gibson.
That stood as the only goal of the game until right wing Ryan Reaves
capitalized on an Anaheim turnover and scored 2:03 into the final
period.
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Allen and the Blues preserved that lead for the rest of the game,
including killing off a three-minute power play and the final 2:48
of the game after Gibson was pulled from the Anaheim net.
"The feeling for me on the bench was that they weren't going to
score, which is a real good feeling," said coach Ken Hitchcock. "He
made some real good saves, as did Gibson."
Steen thought too much was made of who was not playing for the
Blues.
"We are not a young team and teams go through these things every
year," Steen said. "We always seem to stand here and talk about it
like it's something new. We are no different. We are going through
it right now. It's tough with the guys we have out but we are doing
our best to keep the train moving forward and start getting guys
back when they feel healthy."
The loss was only the third for the Ducks in 11 games this season.
NOTES: The Blues played without three of their most experienced
players Thursday night. C David Backes and RW T.J. Oshie missed the
game because of concussions and C Paul Stastny remained out with a
shoulder injury. Backes and Oshie were injured in Tuesday night's
win at Dallas. There is no word on how long each will be out.
Stastny has been sidelined since Oct. 18 but has resumed skating.
... Anaheim LW Patrick Maroon, a St. Louis native, missed the game
in his hometown because of a lower-body injury suffered Oct. 13. The
Ducks believe he might be able to play before their current road
trip ends Sunday at Colorado. ... The Ducks sent D Bryan Allen to
Norfolk on a conditioning assignment. ... The Blues will host
Colorado on Saturday night and the Ducks play at Dallas on Friday
night before heading to Denver.
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