Ducks 4 – Blues 3
The Ducks picked up a big win Friday night. Anaheim's 4-3 victory over St. Louis cemented their position atop the NHL standings. Even more important was their heart filled third period performance against one of the top teams in their conference. There were a couple of important takeaways from the contest worth mentioning.
* Kyle Palmieri's return reunited the second line and added an important dimension to the offense. Matt Beleskey-Ryan Kesler-Palmeri combined for two goals and three assists. There are few teams that can effectively defend two scoring lines.
* Defense. The best defender of this team is Frederik Andersen. The Blues are a good team with plenty of offensive weapons, so they will get there chances. That said, the Ducks won't win many games in which the give up 42 shots.
* Who belongs on the left side of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry? The experiments continue. Playing with the Ducks best players is a boost to anyone's game. Dany Heatley and Emerson Etem's demotions leaves three candidates Patrick Maroon, Devante Smith-Pelly and Rene Bourque. DSP is the most talented, Maroon has the better chemistry, but it seems as if Bourque gets the most opportunities. Here's a thought, why not give Jakob Silfverberg an audition.
* It was nice to see Andrew Cogliano get off the schneid midway through the game and finally score a goal. Recently he had hit more posts than a farsighted redneck in a pickup truck with a Louisville Slugger in his hand.
Here Come the Big Cats
One big test is completed and another one looms. Today's opponent for Anaheim is the Central Division leading Nashville Predators. There are a couple of side plots for the Ducks heading into the contest. First this is a game where the Ducks can go all out because they are home and only play one other game this week. Second, Nashville has to be gassed. This is their second of back-to-back games after traveling across the country. Additionally, the Preds blew a 5-1 lead against the Kings yesterday and had to go to overtime in order to pull out a 7-6 win.
Rene Bourque practiced with Getzlaf and Perry so it will be interesting to see who joins Colby Robak and Mark Fistric as healthy scratches for the Ducks. The lineup should be:
Forwards Bourque-Getzlaf-Perry Beleskey-Kesler-Palmieri Cogliano-Rakell-Silfverberg Maroon-Thompson-DSP/Jackman
Defense Fowler-Lovejoy Lindholm-Beachemin Stoner-Vatanen
Goalie Andersen Bryzgalov
Personal Notes
With the Predators coming in to town, its a good time to remind you about my colleague (and Preds blogger) Paul McCann's radio show. You can catch replays at his website: http://www.slapshotradio.com
A big GET WELL SOON to my mom, Roberta. She fell ill and was hospitalized yesterday. I've never let her allegiance to the Islanders or perpetual crush on Bobby Nystrom to get affect my deep and unconditional love for her.