Recap: Ducks Complete Perfect Homestand With 4-1 Win Over Blues

The Ducks completed a perfect four-game homestand tonight (4-0-0), knocking off the St. Louis Blues by a 4-1 score at Honda Center. Anaheim has earned earned standings points in six straight games (4-0-2) and seven of its last eight contests overall (4-1-3).
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"The greatest thing we have on this team right now is competition," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "It is a total team effort right now. Not only the 20 guys who dressed tonight...We need all 23 of our players right now and those players are sacrificing for each other. They're committed to each other."
Troy Terry scored the game-winning goal in the third period, extending his career-long point streak to 11 games (8-7=15), the longest streak in the NHL this season. Terry is the sixth player in franchise history with an 11-game scoring streak, joining Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry, Paul Kariya and Andy McDonald. The last Duck with a point streak longer than 11 games was Getzlaf with a 14-game run (6-11=17) in 2014.
John Gibson stopped 34-of-35 shots to post his third straight win and his fifth victory of the young season.
"He had three or four saves tonight that could have been saves of the year," Eakins said. "Those were incredible stops."
Benoit-Olivier Groulx notched his first career NHL goal on an empty net in the game's final minute to cap Anaheim's win.
The Ducks swept a four-game homestand with wins over Montreal, New Jersey, Arizona and St. Louis, outscoring opponents 15-4.
Anaheim again excelled on special teams, scoring on the power play for the fourth straight game (6-for-19, 31.6%) while killing all St. Louis' lone man advantage opportunity. The Ducks have scored 12 power-plays goals, good for second in the NHL, and have eliminated the last 11 straight opposition power plays.
Sam Carrick and Sam Steel also scored for Anaheim.
"No matter how good you're feeling about yourself, when you play a team like that you have to bring it," Steel said. "They got one right out of the gate and last year they might have deflated us, but we did a great job responding to get the two points."
The evening got off to a nightmarish start for Anaheim as a defensive zone turnover in the game's opening seconds quickly wound up in the Ducks' net. Following the game's initial faceoff, Anaheim couldn't get the puck out of its own zone and St. Louis took advantage, with Brandon Saad beating a spwarling Gibson on a low wrist shot.
"Now is the measuring stick, we just got stuck on the first shift against a good team. Let's see where we're at," Eakins said. "We were calm, cool and collected. We went about our business."
The Ducks evened the score in the middle frame with Carrick and Derek Grant connecting on a goal for the second straight game. Groulx brought the puck over the blueline, spotting Grant hustling into the zone on left wing. Groulx reversed the ice with a nice pass in stride for Grant, who quickly zipped a feed of his own in front where Carrick tapped it home for the game-tying goal.

Carrick has scored in back-to-back games and has three goals in five appearances this season.
The Ducks took their first lead of the net with a third period power-play goal, courtesy of Terry's streak-extending point. Sonny Milano accepted a pass from Cam Fowler below the goal line and looked to quickly direct the puck towards the net before seeing Terry separate himself from the defense in front. Milano took advantage of the newly open space, sending a perfect pass to his linemate that Terry quickly shoveled past Jordan Binnington to give the Ducks a one-goal edge.
"[Assistant coaches] Geoff Ward and Newell Brown had a plan and they executed it to a T," Eakins said. "They went over three or four clips in a row, 'here's what they do and here's where we can expose them,'. Not only are the coaches organized, but the players are listening. Our power-play delivered right on time when we needed a goal."

"That power play was built from a few good shifts and playing in their end," Terry added. "We feel like we're going to score. It's a better feeling to have as a power play. For us, we're not getting satisfied that we're doing well and just keep getting better at it."
Steel added an important insurance goal midway through the third, giving Anaheim a two-goal cushion. Steel won a faceoff to Binnington's right as Nic Deslauriers poked the puck back to Hampus Lindholm at the point. Lindholm took his time to find a shooting lane, eventually firing a puck on net that Steel deflected by Binnington for his third goal of the season.

Groulx capped the scoring, turning a neutral zone takeaway into his first NHL goal with an empty-net tally, securing the Ducks' 4-1 victory.

"That kid plays hard and he's a student of the game," Eakins said. "He understand where you need to be great on the ice...It's one of the greatest things about coaching, seeing a kid play his first game and seeing him score his first goal."
Lindholm recorded two assists in the win, his second multi-point effort of the season.
The Ducks begin a two-game road trip Tuesday in Vancouver.