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"We come out of here with two points, find another way to win
and get one more day to get a few more healthy bodies back
here," St. Louis captain David Backes said. The schedule doesn't
get any easier for the Blues, who open a five-game road trip at
Dallas on Saturday night. The Ducks, who trail first-place Los
Angeles by one point in the Pacific Division, come to town
having lost back-to-back outings following an 11-game winning
streak. Anaheim had its 14-game point streak snapped in a 3-0
loss at Colorado on Wednesday - its first regulation defeat
since Feb. 8.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN West (Anaheim), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (37-20-9): Anaheim's players were not satisfied
after being blanked for the first time since Jan. 6 and
absorbing consecutive losses for the first time since Dec.
21-22. "We weren't prepared to play tonight. Simple as that,"
said captain Ryan Getzlaf, who has registered 29 points in 33
career games against the Blues. “We got to look at this game and
rebound and play better against St. Louis.” The Ducks could be
short-handed after defenseman Sami Vatanen exited Wednesday's
game and was forced to sit out Thursday's practice due to an
upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE BLUES (39-20-9): With second-leading scorer Alexander
Steen missing the past seven games, Backes is helping pick up
the scoring load with a pair of goals during a four-game point
streak. Forward Troy Brouwer turned in a superb performance
against the Blackhawks, scoring a goal to match his total from
the previous 12 games combined while delivering a game-high nine
hits. Starting goaltender Jake Allen lost his first three
decisions since returning from an injury absence of more than
six weeks, but has rattled off four consecutive victories to
match his career best with 22 wins.
OVERTIME
1. Allen is 3-0-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average versus
Anaheim.
2. The Ducks are 0-for-6 on the power play in the past two
contests afer converting 19-of-43 during their winning streak.
3. The NHL rescinded a game misconduct penalty against Blues F
Ryan Reaves for his hit on D Christian Ehrhoff in Wednesday's
game.
PREDICTION: Ducks 3, Blues 2
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