Blues go hunting and shoot down Ducks, 6-2

The St. Louis Blues came into their game against the Anaheim Ducks knowing that another loss on this West Coast trip would all but eliminate them from playoff contention.  Perhaps they'd be mathematically alive, but for all intents and purposes, they'd be cooked.

So, things looked bleak when the Blues found themselves down by a goal less than two minutes into the game.  The Ducks worked the puck to the straight point and had numbers in front.  The shot-pass came, and it was expertly deflected in front, and Anaheim was up 1-0 early.

St. Louis had the answer, though.  With a quick transition rush, Philip Broberg threaded the needle to Robert Thomas, who cut through the defense.  Once in behind, he roofed a shot to tie it 1-1 at 5:24.

The special teams came through at 11:18. After being shut down earlier in the game, Dylan Holloway tried his luck from the right circle through the five-hole and got it through this time.  It was 2-1.

Defense felt a little hard to come by as the Ducks tied the game at 16:01.  A poor defensive back check from Otto Stenberg left the back door open, and Anaheim went from right wing to left side with the pass, and the quick shot beat Joel Hofer on the blocker side.

St. Louis kept the pressure up, though.  A really bad turnover by the Ducks in the neutral zone, where two of their guys had the chance to go for the puck, and neither did, led to Pius Suter cutting in on the right wing and finding a wide-open Jonaten Berggren in the slot, and he made it 3-2.

The Ducks came out hot in the second period, but couldn't get any of their early looks past Hofer.  Then the Blues doubled the lead just over three minutes in.

Jake Neighbours turned into a bulldozer and just bullied his way up the left wing.  His shot was stopped, but Tyler Tucker followed it up by drawing a defender right on him, then fed it to Suter in the middle, and he made it 4-2.

The teams traded power plays in the middle portion of the second period.  While each team had some attempts, the shorthanded team had higher-quality scoring chances on each power play.

Anaheim had some good chances as the second period progressed, including another backdoor play with about four minutes left.  Fortunately for the Blues, they kept missing the net.

That left the door open for the Blues to add another one.  With 3:10 to go in the second, after a faceoff win, St. Louis went left-right-left-right, and Colton Parayko snapped it into the back of the net for a 5-2 score.

Things got better for the Blues in the third period.  They earned a power play just 18 seconds into the frame.  While the power play looked disjointed early, they got it done.  After a failed clearance by the Ducks, the Blues worked it around, and Thomas fed it left to right, and Holloway got his second of the game on the backdoor play for a 6-2 score at 1:22.

Anaheim pressed late.  They hit the crossbar with about six minutes left and also drew a penalty.  However, the Blues shut the door on everything and preserved the lead on route to a 6-2 final.

Pro:  Special teams

The Blues' special teams remain somewhat of an enigma.  They seem to go back and forth like the pendulum of an old-time clock.

They swung in the right direction for this game, and it was a big reason the team won.  While special teams wasn't the only reason, it played a large part in the story.

The power play had some hiccups, but the reality is they got two goals on four chances.  The only truly frustrating thing about that is that all they needed to do was score 25-50% of the time in the early going, and this season might have gone differently.  At least they're clicking more regularly now.

On the flip side, the penalty kill was absolutely embarrassing early in the season.  Now it's bordering on a strength.  They kept the Ducks off the board three times, including several in key spots.

Con:  Track meet

While the Blues won, and that's the important thing, they still let some bad habits creep back in.  Namely, the defense was a bit lax, and the game got too open.

The odd thing was the stats won't show it.  The Ducks only had eight shots in the first period and nine in the second.

But the Ducks missed the net several times on grade-A looks.  The shots on net don't indicate how much Anaheim actually created.

This was quite evident with their second goal.  I don't want to blame Stenberg alone, but there was a lack of focus and puck watching, rather than keeping skates moving and maintaining rink awareness.  If not for Hofer and some bad misses for the Ducks, the score could have been much closer.

Pro:  Multi-point nights

While the top line has been red-hot for the Blues, multiple guys stepped up and contributed to the offense against the Ducks.  Six players in total had multi-point nights.

The biggest factor was Thomas and Holloway.  Thomas had a goal and two assists, getting three points and two helpers on both of Holloway's goals.

Holloway was a power play machine.  Both of his goals came with the man advantage.

Broberg picked up two points.  Parayko had a goal and two points, as did Suter.

Neighbours had two assists, with the biggest being that bull rush up the left wing.  

Con:  Fourth line

This is a nitpick more than a true criticism.  The fourth line was on the ice for both of the Anaheim goals, so it wasn't the best of nights for them as all three were minus-2.

However, Nathan Walker still mixed it up with six hits in the game, so they were still doing their job.  If Stenberg backchecks a little harder, that one goal likely doesn't happen, so it was just an off couple of shifts, really.

Overview:

The Blues are pretty much ticking everyone off right now, and the chaotic part of my personality is here for it.  With every win down the stretch, the team is making all the tank-for-whomever crowd unhappy, and that makes me happy.  It would be great to have a high pick, but I never want any franchise I cheer for to make that a goal.

On the flip side, the way this team plays in their wins is aggravating because we know they're capable of playing like this all the time.  They should be a playoff team with the vague hope of catching Minnesota for the third divisional spot instead of needing to win almost every game left just to have a chance for a wild card spot.

That being said, this was a reasonably solid performance for 60 minutes.  As mentioned, things got loose defensively, and the Ducks could easily have buried several of those, and the game would have been closer.

With that in mind, the reality is the Blues buried their best chances, and the Ducks didn't.  St. Louis took down a team challenging for the top spot in the Pacific Division, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

Now, the Blues have to improve their own divisional record as the season winds down.  The Blues have a solid-to-great record against everyone else, but they've stunk against the Central.

Five of their final six games are against divisional opponents, so St. Louis has to change their record there if it wants to make the postseason.  All they can do is try to win their own games and see how the rest shakes out.  They ended their road trip on a good note, which sets things up.