St. Louis Blues vs. Anaheim Ducks: Game Preview
The St. Louis Blues will face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at the Honda Center and play their first game of 2015. With 54 points, Anaheim is currently the best team in the NHL, but the Blues will have to hope that they can find a way to pull out a win, which is much needed considering that they’ve lost five of their past six.
If it’s any help, the Ducks are also trending downward and are coming off a 3-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. Anaheim has lost four of their past six. However, they’ve had only four losing streaks this year, and they have not lost consecutive games since November 28 and 29.
On the bright side, the Blues have proven that they know how to handle Anaheim, as they shut out the Ducks 2-0 at Scottrade Center on October 30. The Ducks have done the same to the Blues, defeating them 3-0 on October 19 at Honda Center, so the Blues will have to avoid the spotty play in the defensive zone that they exhibited in Tuesday’s loss to the Nashville Predators if they plan on contending with the Ducks on Friday.
The Blues’ lineup is somewhat uncertain for Friday night. It’s likely that the Blues will stick with the same 12 forwards and six defensemen that they used for Tuesday night’s game. It’s probable that the lines will get a shakeup, as Paul Stastny joined Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko for Thursday’s practice and likely will stick with them for the game. If that plan sticks, Patrik Berglund figures to center the line with Dmitrij Jaskin and Ryan Reaves that Stastny had spent the past few games with.
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There are a few players who are darkhorse candidates to participate in Friday’s game. Jaden Schwartz returned to practice on Thursday for the first time since breaking his foot on December 16. Schwartz wore a red no-contact jersey on Thursday, and though he’ll join the team on the trip, he’ll probably need at least a few more days of practice before the Blues continue putting him back into the lineup.
Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson also has been practicing for the past few days and is said to be close to returning. Since the Blues recalled two forwards, John McCarthy and Colin Fraser, to join the team for their West Coast trip, however, it seems that Gunnarsson probably has a few more days to go before he’s ready.
As for Fraser and McCarthy, they’re more likely candidates for Saturday’s game at San Jose or Tuesday’s at Arizona if they’re going to get game action. Coach Ken Hitchcock’s quotes following Thursday’s practice seemed to indicate that the Blues were looking at the decision to promote the duo as an opportunity to get a firsthand look at the two NHL vets and evaluate their ability to contribute later on in the season, rather than it being made with the idea of them being immediate contributors.
Goalie Martin Brodeur will get the start on Friday and try to follow up his shutout of the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night. We’ll see what kind of help Brodeur’s defense gives him; while Brodeur had to face only 16 shots on Monday night, Brian Elliott was subjected to 47 shots from the Predators in his return from a five-week injury layoff on Tuesday.
There’s been speculation that Friday could be Brodeur’s final start in a Blues uniform, which would likely spell an end to his NHL career. While it doesn’t seem likely that Brodeur will be leaving soon considering that he’s getting starts ahead of rookie Jake Allen, the Blues may face a roster crunch soon with Schwartz and Gunnarsson close and the roster already full with the call-ups of Fraser and McCarthy. While it’s perfectly possible that the Blues could end up sending down both Fraser and McCarthy and operate for an extended period with three goalies, they may feel uncomfortable having only two extra skaters available when sudden injuries occur. With that said, they’ve been able to get by with 22 skaters for the majority of the season, as recently sent-down forward Magnus Paajarvi played in just 1o of the team’s first 37 games, with several of those appearances being for the sole purpose of trying to get him some ice time.