When: Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St, Louis, MO
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at ticketmaster.com
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BLUES The St. Louis Blues (19-19-4) will begin a four-game homestand on Thursday when they face off against the Anaheim Ducks for the first time this season.
The Blues fell 6-4 to division opponent the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. Despite having the edge on shots (33-26), faceoff wins (32-24) and hits (31-29), the Blues were unable to outscore Minnesota in St. Paul.
Within the first 2:12, the Wild already had a two-goal lead over the Blues. However, despite giving up two early goals, the Blues rallied and scored the next four for a two-goal lead.
Pavel Buchnevich was the first Blue on the board halfway through the first. Coming into the middle frame, the Blues were hot, getting goals from Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas all within the first five minutes of the period. However the Blues were unable to hold onto their lead as they gave up four unanswered goals in the final two periods.
After the disappointing loss, Neighbours shared his thoughts on Tuesday’s game.
“There’s positives, but you go up 4-2 on the road, you've got to find a way to win a game,” Neighbours said. “There’s no excuses. It’s not right. You want to make the playoffs, you've got to win those games. It was a great effort to battle back, obviously not the start we wanted, but we get up to 4-2, it’s got to be over. We have to find a way.”
The Blues will look to turn the page when they host the Ducks in their annual Pride Night game on Thursday.
DUCKS The Anaheim Ducks (17-18-5) are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss in a back-and-forth game with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
In the offseason, the Ducks traded defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Cutter Gauthier. In Gauthier’s rookie year, he is fifth on the team in points with 18 (five goals, 13 assists).
Midway through the season, the Ducks traded veteran defenseman Cam Fowler to the Blues. Fowler was drafted 12th overall in the 2010 draft by the Ducks and spent 14 full seasons with the organization. Fowler is their all-time leader as a defenseman in games (991), goals (96), assists (361), points (457) and game-winning goals (18).
The Ducks last made the playoffs in the 2017-18 season where they were swept by the San Jose Sharks in the first round. They are currently in sixth place in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
