GDT #27: 3/16/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

[dmiles2186]

DUCKS (20-3-3) at BLUES (15-10-2)

TV: PRIME, FS-MW

Last 10: Anaheim 7-1-2; St. Louis 6-4-0

Season series: Third and final meeting of the regular season. The Ducks will go for the sweep, having won 6-5 in a shootout in St. Louis on Feb. 9, and 4-2 in Anaheim on March 10. Bobby Ryan leads all scorers in the two games with three goals and five points for the Ducks. Francois Beauchemin has five assists.

Big story: Anaheim has reached 20 wins in half the number of games it took the 2011-12 Ducks to get there -- they were 20-24-8 after 52 games last season en route to missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. St. Louis remains in Chicago's rearview mirror in the Central Division standings, but has won two straight to take over the fourth seed in the Western Conference.

Team Scope:

Ducks: The goaltending tandem of Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth has had to weather its share of injury concerns in this shortened season -- Hiller missed time early, and now Fasth has been out for the past two games. It hasn't mattered, because whichever one finds himself between the pipes on a given night responds in turn to keep Anaheim's engine running smoothly. Hiller stopped 33 shots and a pair of shootout attempts Thursday night in Dallas, and goals by Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf in the penalty-shot tiebreaker lifted the Ducks to a 2-1 victory.

"We're working," Getzlaf told the Orange County Register. "When you work, you get breaks. Guys are working hard and battling. We got a little depleted lineup right now. Guys are doing a great job stepping into those roles."

Blues: With the save percentages of Jaroslav Halak and especially Brian Elliott not matching up to NHL standards, much less the elite numbers they put up a season ago, the door has opened in St. Louis for rookie Jake Allen to see extended playing time. He's performed, with seven wins in eight starts, and on Thursday night he achieved a milestone by stopping all 28 shots in a 3-0 victory over visiting Phoenix. Chris Stewart supported him with a pair of goals and Alex Steen had a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup.

"It's something I've dreamed of, especially as a kid getting a shutout in the NHL," Allen said. "I never would have realized it would have been this quick, but I definitely appreciate all the work the guys did. It's something I won't forget.

"It's sort of a whirlwind the last month or so, whatever it's been. I'm still taking it in stride. I'm really pleased with the way I've played. I couldn't have asked for a better start, but I try to stay even-keeled, stay ready for the next game on Saturday. Just take things one day at a time."

Who's hot: Hiller has won four consecutive starts for the Ducks, allowing just four goals over that span and posting a .965 save percentage. Andrew Cogliano has goals in two of the past three games. … Stewart has back-to-back two-goal games for the Blues. Over the past six games, he has six goals and 12 points. His 13 goals are just two fewer than he scored in 79 games last season.

Injury report: Anaheim is currently without forward Corey Perry due to a suspension. Fasth (upper body) is expected to dress, as Jeff Deslauriers was returned to the minors on Friday. Forward Brad Staubitz (facial laceration) is practicing while wearing a visor, but is still on injured reserve along with forward Nick Bonino (lower body). … St. Louis forward T.J. Oshie is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Forwards Jamie Langenbrunner (hip), Vladimir Tarasenko (concussion) and Andy McDonald (knee) are on injured reserve.

[glen a richter]

Blues 3
Ducks 2 (OT)

[gaijin]

This will be a big test of this team's character. I assume Allen is starting?

2 points, please.

[sseagle]

I'm gonna eat me some duck!

[Kreegz2]

Tarasenko back tonight. Great news. Lines according to JR:

Steen-Backes-Stewart
Perron-Berglund-D'Agostini
Schwartz-Sobotka-Tarasenko
Porter-Nichol-Cracknell

personally I would rather dress Reaves than dags, or atleast see dags and tank switched. I get the feeling this a "prove yourself" game for D'agostini.

[sseagle]

Third line looks terrifying.

[Krigloch the Furious]

Excited for this game!
Steen and Senk the Tank (Tarasenkshow) back on the ice.

[AlsWoodenStick]

Got the night off & gonna be at the game with some college friends, can't wait.
Blues 3
Ducks 2
Shootout, Frank with the winner

[dmiles2186]

Petro's out. Got the flu. Balls.

[sseagle]

u are a fart cannon copycat

[Oaklandblue]

Blues 3
Ducks 0

Goals by Tank, Boat and Backes.

[glen a richter]

Now that was a great game. Allen is a beast in net and what a goal to win it. I'm off the trade Stewart bandwagon.

[dmiles2186]

+



=

[cardsfan04]

Huge win over a very good team. That goal by Stewart was amazing. Allen, though, was phenomenal. He made several huge saves. Game could have easily been a 3-1 loss.

[sseagle]

Dang I was so close there at the end... I called "Boat, 56 seconds" before OT started...

45 seconds, Stew from Boat

[Kreegz2]

So is Allen our undisputed #1 now? He literally stole that game last night. Phenomenal.

He was 3-0-0 with a .969 save percentage and a 0.99 GAA on this home stand.

[theohall]

Jake Allen is now 9th in the league, yes - the league, in save percentage.

[dmiles2186]

So where are all the people that were wanting to blow the team up two weeks ago? The people that said we were done and Hitch needed to go and we needed to trade everyone?

The last two games, the Blues look like themselves. And what I mean by that is they look like the team that put up 109 points last year. I said the exact same thing in the last GDT after they beat the Coyotes. But it holds true here, as well. They still are having too many turnovers in their own end that lead to quality chances, and in the case of last night's game, Anaheim's only goal. Nevertheless, there's a confidence that had seemed shaken during the rough stretch a few weeks back.

They're going to hit some more rough spots, that's just the nature of the sport. But they're still fighting and with half the season to go, they look like the team we all thought we were going to see when they started 6-1-0.

[Oaklandblue]

So where are all the people that were wanting to blow the team up two weeks ago? The people that said we were done and Hitch needed to go and we needed to trade everyone?

The last two games, the Blues look like themselves. And what I mean by that is they look like the team that put up 109 points last year. I said the exact same thing in the last GDT after they beat the Coyotes. But it holds true here, as well. They still are having too many turnovers in their own end that lead to quality chances, and in the case of last night's game, Anaheim's only goal. Nevertheless, there's a confidence that had seemed shaken during the rough stretch a few weeks back.

They're going to hit some more rough spots, that's just the nature of the sport. But they're still fighting and with half the season to go, they look like the team we all thought we were going to see when they started 6-1-0.

Bottom line is, no one expected this.

No one expected an unproven rookie to walk in and stand on his head.

No one expected a flake to suddenly play like the skilled forward he really is.

What we expected was a goaltending tandem that had been broken, a group of our best players out on injury and not having a return date on when any of them returning, consistent sloppy play and the losses to go with it.

At this point, the Captain of the team should be Jake Allen. He has brought confidence back to the Bluenote.

Everyone, including myself, felt we needed to get a veteran presence. And if things had continued as they were, and there were no indication that things would get better at that point, we'd still be losing, still be playing sloppy and still having major issues.

We make a goalie change and things suddenly turn around. We put out Halak and they ADMIT to leaving him out to dry.

Confidence is another word for trust. This team doesn't trust Halak and Elliott anymore, for whatever reason. Their time in the STL might be done.

[cardsfan04]

So where are all the people that were wanting to blow the team up two weeks ago? The people that said we were done and Hitch needed to go and we needed to trade everyone?

The last two games, the Blues look like themselves. And what I mean by that is they look like the team that put up 109 points last year. I said the exact same thing in the last GDT after they beat the Coyotes. But it holds true here, as well. They still are having too many turnovers in their own end that lead to quality chances, and in the case of last night's game, Anaheim's only goal. Nevertheless, there's a confidence that had seemed shaken during the rough stretch a few weeks back.

They're going to hit some more rough spots, that's just the nature of the sport. But they're still fighting and with half the season to go, they look like the team we all thought we were going to see when they started 6-1-0.

Bottom line is, no one expected this.

No one expected an unproven rookie to walk in and stand on his head.

No one expected a flake to suddenly play like the skilled forward he really is.

What we expected was a goaltending tandem that had been broken, a group of our best players out on injury and not having a return date on when any of them returning, consistent sloppy play and the losses to go with it.

At this point, the Captain of the team should be Jake Allen. He has brought confidence back to the Bluenote.

Everyone, including myself, felt we needed to get a veteran presence. And if things had continued as they were, and there were no indication that things would get better at that point, we'd still be losing, still be playing sloppy and still having major issues.

We make a goalie change and things suddenly turn around. We put out Halak and they ADMIT to leaving him out to dry.

Confidence is another word for trust. This team doesn't trust Halak and Elliott anymore, for whatever reason. Their time in the STL might be done.

Not sure I completely agree. Well, I agree that Jake Allen is exceeding the expectations of even the biggest optimists. And, nobody was predicting Stewart to be so good. But, I don't think a talented team overcoming adversity is all that surprising. The surprise is that it happened in the first place, not that they seem to have overcome it.