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The Anaheim Ducks are pretty good. They're 17-3-3 so far on the season, pretty much behind the goaltending ability of rookie wunderkind Viktor Fasth. He has a GAA of 1.92 and a .929 save percentage, which is fourth in the league in both categories. He basically came out of nowhere and has been a godsend for Bruce Boudreau's club.
Their recently re-upped captain, Ryan Getzlaf, is leading the team in points with 29 points, and has 10 goals and 19 assists, but it's interesting to look at the rest of the team's stats. Getzlaf's the only player with double digit goals right now, but the rest of the squad are pretty sharp when it comes to assists. What does that say to me? The Blues need to break up the play. Be obnoxious, be pesky, and get in there and do everything possible to keep the Ducks from setting anything up.
Who's good at that on the team? The third and fourth lines. Who's good at scoring? The second line of David Perron, Chris Stewart, and Patrik Berglund. Those are the guys we're going to have to keep an eye on tonight. While Vladimir Sobotka's hat trick, the first for a Blue in a couple seasons, was spiffy, that's not going to happen all of the time.
The Ducks have won 10 straight games at home; the Blues haven't done too hot at the Honda Center in the past. Can tonight change the two trends? Will the Blues begin their home stand on Tuesday with a spring in their step? We'll see, but if Jaroslav Halak has a good game tonight, there's no reason why they can't. The last time these two teams met, the Blues lost 6-5 in a shootout. Sure, a SO loss isn't fun, but it proved that the team can light up the Ducks. Here's hoping that happens again today.