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GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 8:24 am
by dmiles2186
Only ONE MAN can wear a Ducks jersey with any authority....(Frank) you, Lester Averman.

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DUCKS (19-7-5) at BLUES (19-5-3)

TV: PRIME, FS-MW

Last 10: Anaheim 4-2-4; St. Louis 7-3-0

Blue Notes: The Blues have an eight-game point streak at home vs. the Ducks (6-0-2). Alexander Steen has three goals and five assists in his last six games against Anaheim. David Backes has nine goals and six assists in his last 12 game vs. Anaheim. The Blues are 12-1-2 this season at home, which is tied for the most home wins in the NHL.

Season series: This is the first of three games. Last season, the Anaheim Ducks won two of three against the St. Louis Blues, one in a shootout, with the loss in overtime.

Big story: Anaheim will complete a weeklong run against the top teams in the Western Conference standings, with the first three games decided by shootout.

One night after a 3-2 win against the first-place Chicago Blackhawks, the second-place Ducks face the fourth-place Blues. Anaheim lost to the tied-for-second San Jose Sharks 4-3 last Saturday, and to the fifth-place Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Tuesday.

Team Scope:

Ducks: This will be Anaheim's 20th road game of the season; the Ducks are 9-7-3. Only the New York Rangers have played as many as 18.

"It seems like we've been on the road every week and it's been rough," goalie Jonas Hiller told the Ducks website. "If you have success, it's easier to play those road games. We have a tough one coming up tomorrow and then [we're] back home. We're definitely looking forward to after Christmas. Glad we got them out of the way early."

Hiller faced 76 shots, plus 12 shootout attempts, in the past two games, so Frederik Andersen could play for the first time since last Friday.

Andersen has opened his NHL career 7-1-0 with a 1.70 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. He has given up more than two goals twice in seven starts.

Blues: St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock put together a line of Patrik Berglund, Maxim Lapierre and Magnus Paajarvi in the second period Thursday against the New York Islanders. Hitchcock said he'll keep them together Saturday.

"Paajarvi looked like he was back on task the way he was before he got hurt, which was real good for us because he was a real good player in the game," Hitchcock said Thursday. "I thought Lapierre was very effective as a [wing] today."

Paajarvi, who has missed time as a healthy scratch, with an upper-body injury, then an illness, scored his second goal of the season in the 5-1 win.

"The more you play the more you get into it and you don't really think," Paajarvi told stlouisblues.com. "... I was playing well and then I got injured for a couple weeks and then I was playing well again and I got sick, so hopefully I can stay consistent here."

Hitchcock said Jaroslav Halak will start in goal against the Ducks.

Who's hot: Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf has at least a point in his past 12 games played (nine goals, nine assists). Linemates Corey Perry and Dustin Penner each has a six-game point streak of five goals, three assists. … Blues forward Alexander Steen has six points in his past six games after going three games without one. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has four points in the past two games. Forward Derek Roy has five in his past four.

Injury report: Ducks forward Mathieu Perreault (lower body) was added to injured reserve Thursday. Also out are defenseman Francois Beauchemin (upper body), goalie Viktor Fasth (muscle inflammation), defenseman Luca Sbisa (torn hand tendon), forward Jakob Silfverberg (broken hand) and defenseman Sheldon Souray (torn wrist tendon). Silfverberg and Beauchemin are on the two-game trip for conditioning purposes. … Blues defenseman Jordan Leopold (hand) and forward Ryan Reaves (hand) are on injured reserve.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:01 am
by gaijin
Seems like we have better luck against the Ducks than the other California teams. Hope that trend continues.

2 points, please. :letsgoblues:

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 11:02 am
by glen a richter
A game against the Islanders could be a confidence booster after two bad losses. Or it could be a game that lulls them into a sense that they're better than they are. Come out hard tonight, take out some bodies and get out to an early two or three goal lead. Otherwise it could be a long night.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:21 pm
by Krigloch the Furious
*sigh*
Getting out worked so far. One more and I turn this off.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:22 pm
by Krigloch the Furious
And there she be.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:47 pm
by glen a richter
glen a richter wrote:A game against the Islanders could be a confidence booster after two bad losses. Or it could be a game that lulls them into a sense that they're better than they are. Come out hard tonight, take out some bodies and get out to an early two or three goal lead. Otherwise it could be a long night.
Evidently when I said get out to an early 3 goal lead, I was talking about the Ducks. :facepalm:

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 8:03 am
by dmiles2186
Another slow start but no reason to panic at this point. And truth be told, they would have had a few more goals if it wasn't for Andersen in net. I thought we were getting shut out, for sure, but we finally got a few past him. Time to put that one behind us and move on to the next one.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:29 am
by goon attack
I like how they fight back when behind. It's like how I really wanna pound Salma Hayek. I never get to do it but damn if I don't want to.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 11:04 am
by Krigloch the Furious
Totally the same thing.
:lol:

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:24 pm
by glen a richter
This team is the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked. Blow it up and start over. Trade everyone for draft picks, and sign Terry Yake!

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:36 pm
by Oaklandblue
glen a richter wrote:This team is the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked. Blow it up and start over. Trade everyone for draft picks, and sign Terry Yake!
I think more consideration needs to be put into the lines we run.

Like, Stewart, Roy, Bergy...umm, wth? You put Roy, a guy who skates the puck IN with a guy who DUMPS the puck and turns it over more times than a backup Raiders Quarterback and a guy who isn't clicking with anyone, beyond when he does a No-Timer.

When it comes to Chris Stewart, read this article: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... ir-way-out. It tells you everything you need to know about Chris and why I continue to say we should have signed Anthony. Chris has the skills, we just won't ever see it out of him. I'm more upset that Chris Stewart, if he put even a tenth of his heart and passion into the game that he could be one of the greats. But that's not his game and that, to be honest, saddens and irritates me. Anthony may not be the best player, but he's got heart and passion and I'll take that over the garbage we're getting out of Chris this year, any day.

I can't wait til Ryan Reaves gets back and Hitch decides to put CPR back together and run them as the fourth line. Without them, there's this odd void there that should be filled by players like Morrow and Lapierre but it's not really happening. Maybe we're just not clicking?

But these lines....they're either totally badass or we get powned by them. What's Hitch trying to do with them, because I've tried to figure it out and I honestly can't.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 7:01 pm
by glen a richter
I will agree on the Reaves front. Losing him is a big disservice because other teams can feel free to take more liberties and play more physical on our guys. I find it hard to believe they couldn't dig up someone, anyone, from Chicago who can fill Reaves' role for the time being.

I firmly believe in bringing up Dmitrij Jaskin and showing Berglund the door. Not sure exactly what we could get for Bumps, he's kind of a severely "sell low" candidate at the moment. Wait for him to go on one of his streaks before dumping him or dump him now and score a lousy draft pick in return?

Ty Rattie is showing signs of life down at Chicago, though he's not producing at a particularly great clip he can be a candidate to jump in next season. Etiher way, this team minus Berglund and Stewart is that much better.

Re: GDT #28: 12/7/13 > Blues vs Ducks > 7:00 PM > FSMW/KMOX

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 7:21 pm
by Oaklandblue
I'm idly curious if regulating Bergy to special teams would be an idea to explore. Cut his time and put him in a set situation and maybe that would set a fire under his butt. Best case scenario he starts scoring and then he has value at the deadline. Worst is that we trade him for a pick. He's had some serviceable moments, isn't totally useless as he has played off and on like the big guy he is, and has a hell of a lot more heart and grit than Stewart (Which isn't saying a whole hell of a lot). At this point, Stew should be gone.

We don't have anyone like Ryan Reaves in the minors and players like him are so not a dime a dozen. We have alot of skill players with a level of grit based on their size, but no one like a "Reaves" there.

I really feel the problem at this point is Hitch. There's only so much Halak can do before he folds and he's been trying hard. He deserves a team that'll try like him and that's just not happening when we need to make a statement. Win/Loss record like we have is great, but what we need is those wins that boost confidence and make the team play like they care. A win against the Islanders? How about a win against the Kings? Which one inspires more?