Blues, running out of time to make playoff move, visit Ducks
In dire need of reversing their fortunes during their road swing, the St. Louis Blues will take their flickering playoff hopes to Anaheim to face the Ducks on Friday.
After a torrid stretch following the Olympic break, the Blues (31-31-12, 74 points) are winless in the first two outings of a four-game trip, and coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.
St. Louis was on an 11-2-2 tear before scuffling a couple of outings. Following a 5-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks -- a game in which San Jose scored the winning goal with 22 seconds remaining in regulation -- the Blues came up short after tying their clash with the Kings late in the third period.
"Disappointed," said forward Robert Thomas, whose tying goal against the Kings has him on a three-game point streak. "These last two games, we felt like we really needed to get some wins and haven't been able to do it, so obviously disappointing."
The Blues appeared done and dusted before the break, but are now a handful of points behind the Western Conference playoff pace with eight games remaining in the regular season. That said, they are well aware they not only need help on the out-of-town scoreboard but cannot afford to lose many more games.
The lesson from the Los Angles clash is to make the most of any scoring chances.
"We missed the net too often on a lot of our opportunities," coach Jim Montgomery said. "It's something that has been a little problematic. We try to be too perfect, and it's costing us some goals. I think we need to release pucks quicker and just hit the net."
The Ducks are atop the Pacific Division, but have their own woes to contend with these days.
Anaheim (41-29-5, 87 points) is winless in three games, two in regulation and one in overtime, and smarting from its most recent outing.
The Ducks suffered a 4-3 road loss to the Sharks on Wednesday because they surrendered a lead in the final two minutes of regulation. Anaheim has lost the last two games despite holding a lead in the third period.
"We talk about managing those games, I don't know. We will have to look at it," said Troy Terry, whose early third-period tally gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead that was relinquished. "I didn't really feel like we mismanaged it. They got some really talented players."
The Ducks, with all of their young, talented skaters, have had their own success stories of late-game heroics, so some would say turnabout is fair play.
"The guy who is a pretty special player who tied it," coach Joel Quenneville said of Sharks rising star Macklin Celebrini, who enjoyed a four-point performance against his club. "Scored a nice goal, and they got another one right after. We've done that all year. I can imagine how it feels, and now I know how it feels to give up something like that, a lead in the third. A terrible loss, and it put us in a tougher spot for sure."
Adding to the troubles is the fact that leading scorer Cutter Gauthier missed the San Jose game due to an upper-boody injury suffered in Anaheim's overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
There was no update Thursday about the status of Gauthier, who leads the club with 38 goals and 65 points, but Quenneville said he was questionable for games through the coming weekend.
On the positive side, Anaheim is now kicking off a five-game homestand before ending the regular season with a pair of road clashes.