Oct 28, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler (17) blocks a shot during the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Next up for the Ducks on this Central Division road-trip is a rematch with the St. Louis Blues, a team Anaheim defeated in a 3-0 shutout on October 19th. Since their defeat in the Honda Center, St. Louis is 2-1-0, with a pair of wins over fellow Central Division foes. They also played Tuesday, defeating the Dallas Stars 4-3 in overtime on a power-play goal from Vladimir Tarasenko, who notched a hat trick with his game-winner.
St. Louis is 4-3-1 on the season after defeating Dallas. Tarasenkno leads the team with nine points and is second with four goals. The team is playing without Paul Stastny, who is on injured reserve after suffering a shoulder injury early in the season against the Arizona Coyotes. Jaden Schwartz leads the team with five goals, while Kevin Shattenkirk is pacing the Blues with seven assists. Young stud blue-liner Alex Pietrangelo is averaging 25:14 per game for St. Louis this season.
Point Streaks, General Notes:
Strange to not mention Ryan Getzlaf or Corey Perry a single time until this section, but they were held scoreless for the second consecutive game.
Beauchemin once again led the Ducks in minutes played and leads the team in total ice time, even-strength ice time, and shorthanded ice time on the season.
Dany Heatley, in his Anaheim Ducks debut, played 13:26, including 55 seconds on the power play with the first unit of Getzlaf, Perry, Kesler, and Vatanen. Heatley recorded one shot on goal and one hit in that time.
The team won only 22 of 56 faceoffs tonight (39.3%), their first game with a losing record in the faceoff circle since the homer opener against the Minnesota Wild. None of the Ducks’ four centermen finished with a faceoff win percentage above 46%, achieved by Nate Thompson (6/13). Despite the losing record in the faceoff circle, Anaheim still leads the league with a 54.6% faceoff win percentage.