VIDEO: Ducks Take Down The Blues

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks finished their homestand by hosting the St. Louis Blues. John Gibson was back in net after feeling under the weather for a few days. Jordan Binnington started for the Blues.

Mason McTavish was recalled from San Diego and was back in the lineup. Trevor Zegras skated during warm-ups, but did not play. He is still listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Recap

It didn’t look good early on as Brandon Saad scored just 13 seconds in this one. The Ducks did get a power play later in the period, but couldn’t convert. St. Louis held a 1-0 advantage after the opening 20 minutes.

The Ducks tied up the game in second period. Derek Grant found Sam Carrick streaking to the net. The pass hit Carrick in stride, who easily redirected the puck past Binnington.

The Blues got a power play at the end of the period. The man advantage carried over to start the third period, but the Blues didn’t cash in.

Anaheim then got a power play and Sonny Milano found Troy Terry in the slot for the score. Terry split the defense and shot the puck over Binnington’s shoulder to give the Ducks a 2-1 advantage.

Sam Steel then extended the lead to 3-1 after he redirected a point shot from Hampus Lindholm. Steel was able to hit the puck in a downward motion which beat Binnington five-hole.

The Blues pulled their goalie with 5 minutes left, but couldn’t get one past Gibson. Instead Benoit-Olivier Groulx would pick up a loose puck in the Blues zone and skate in for an easy empty net goal. Ducks won 4-1. Terry and Lindholm were given assists on the goal originally, but the league changed the score to an unassisted goal.

Analysis:

The Ducks had a bit of a slow start to this contest and got down early, but were able to hold their own. The Blues did hit the cross bar and had a few other quality chances, but Gibson looked sharp.

The fourth line, which has been problematic at times this season, actually provided two of the goals on the night. They were the best line during 5-on-5 play posting a 70.18 xGF%. Overall the team is playing better at even strength now as opposed to earlier in the season when it seemed like they relied on the power play heavily.

Anaheim also scored on the power play and kept the Blues from scoring on theirs. This game had a decent pace to it and there weren’t many penalties. The Ducks did give up 35 shots, which is something they still need to work on. Overall, the Ducks have recently been playing extremely well in almost all aspects of the game.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks are on a four game winning streak, which is the longest with Dallas Eakins as the head coach.

Troy Terry extended his point streak(8 G + 6 A) to 11 games, which is the longest streak currently in the NHL.

Benoit-Olivier Groulx’s goal was his first NHL goal.

The Ducks scored another power play goal. They are 12-for-44 or 27.3% efficient. Anaheim only had 11 power play goals all of last season in 124 attempts.

What’s Next?

The Ducks hit the road and face Vancouver Tuesday at 7 PM PT.

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November 8th, 2021