St. Louis Blues look for two points against Anaheim Ducks - NHL Preview
St. Louis Blues will look to increase its lead at the top of the Western Conference on Thursday, March 8, 2012 against the visiting Anaheim Ducks at the Scottrade Center.
The Blues finally took over the top spot in the Conference with 91 points from Vancouver Canucks with a 5-1 win over Chicago Blackhawks their second in a row on Tuesday.
They will look to improve that lead further against an inconsistent Ducks side.
For Anaheim the season has resulted in an impressive turnaround. After losing games for most of the first half of 2011-12, the Ducks put together some wonderful performances to give themselves a shot at the playoff rounds.
Anaheim are currently 12th in the Western Conference with 68 points and trail the coveted eighth spot by six points.
The Ducks bounced straight back from a defeat to Los Angeles Kings with an impressive 4-2 win over Edmonton Oilers on Monday but will face their toughest test yet against the Blues who are in brilliant form and more so on home ice.
Blues (42-18-7, 91 pts)
St. Louis Blues are on fire as they powered their way to the top of the conference.
The Blues are even more devastating for opponents at home ice where they hold a 27-4-4 record and the Ducks will need a massive effort on both offence and defence to get anything out of this game.
St. Louis are on a two-game winning run and have lost just once in their past seven games.
They destroyed a struggling Chicago Blackhawks side 5-1 last time out and make winning games look as easy as a walk in the park.
Coach Ken Hitchcock though is not prepared to let the team relax and wants his players to continue to display the same work ethic that have got them to the top of the table.
"For us, we work and we feel like, if we work, we're going to win, and when we don't work, we get angry. It's not just coaches mad at players, it's players pushing players, it's everybody pushing each other. We want to be proud of our work ethic. We feel
like if our work ethic is at the top of the heap, we have a chance to beat anybody."
Ducks (29-28-10, 68 pts)
Anaheim though are known for springing surprises over much better opponents and they have done just that in the second half of the season to give themselves an outside chance of making the playoffs.
The Ducks resurgence has seen them come from the bottom of the Western Conference to being just six behind eighth spot and they will look to make another upset against the Blues at home.
Each and every point is important for the Ducks right now and they will look to take home at least a single point from this game.
Forward Corey Perry speaking to the media after the 4-2 win over Edmonton said.
"We still believe in this dressing room. If we keep winning our share of games, we're going to be there."
Predictions
The Blues will win the game as they are just too strong at home for Anaheim.
Both offensive lines are scoring and there will be lots of goals for the watching fans to enjoy.
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