Blues at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks finally get a break from the road -- albeit a brief one -- when they return home to face the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night in the final game for both clubs before the All-Star break. It will mark the only home game in a span of a month for Anaheim, which ended a franchise-record 12-game slide on its just-concluded five-game road trip.
The break could not come at a better time for the Ducks, who have dropped 13 of 15 (2-9-4) and face the prospect of heading back out on the road for another five-game trek following the All-Star Game. Fans at the Honda Center may have trouble recognizing the team after general manager Bob Murray made a flurry of moves last week, acquiring four players via trade and promoting three from the minors. The Blues lost for the third time in four games, squandering an early two-goal lead in Monday's 4-3 loss at Los Angeles in the opener of a five-game road trip. It continued a disturbing pattern for St. Louis, which has won only two of eight games (2-4-2) against the five teams with the fewest points in the league.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS West (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE BLUES (21-22-5): After not allowing more than two goals in each of his first seven appearances this season, rookie netminder Jordan Binnington was victimized four times against Los Angeles to suffer his first regulation defeat (4-1-1). Center Ryan O'Reilly took over the team lead by scoring his 18th goal Monday to extend his point streak to five games and boost his team-high point total to 49 after collecting five tallies and a dozen assists over the past 14 games. MacKenzie MacEachern, a third-round pick in 2012 who played three seasons at Michigan State, notched his first NHL goal and point.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (21-20-9): Anaheim's punchless offense is not being helped by a slew of injuries as forwards Jakob Silfverberg (lower body), Ryan Kesler (lower body) and Ondrej Kase (upper body) all did not practice Monday. One positive sign was an appearance by Corey Perry, who practiced for the first time since suffering a serious injury in preseason, although he was wearing a non-contact jersey and there is no timetable for when he will be ready to rejoin the lineup. Goaltender John Gibson has won his last two starts but is 3-3-1 with a 2.57 goals-against average versus St. Louis.
OVERTIME
1. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf has one goal and two assists in his last 14 games.
2. Blues F Vladimir Tarasenko has five goals in his last nine games overall but has only four in 18 contests against the Ducks.
3. Anaheim recalled F Adam Cracknell from San Diego of the American Hockey League.