How the backup to the backup helped the Ducks bounce back

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the St. Louis Blues by a final score of 4-1, in the second game of a back-to-back road trip. After relinquishing a sizeable lead in their last game, the Ducks did not make that mistake twice, with the help of a solid goaltending performance and timely goals from key skaters.

The backup to the backup

With Lukas Dostal still out of the lineup and Petr Mrazek exiting the previous game against Chicago with an injury, Ville Husso was tabbed as the starter in St. Louis. Husso had a solid outing for the Ducks, allowing only one goal on 23 shots for a .957 save percentage.

Thankfully, the same could not be said about Husso's competition in the other net, Jordan Binnington.

After allowing a second goal to Pavel Mintyukov, on only five shots, Binnington was pulled and replaced by Joel Hofer. While Hofer did have a better performance for the Blues, Husso was still the better goalie in the game.

With Dostal on injured reserve, Mrazek still listed as day-to-day, and the relatively unknown prospect Vyacheslav Buteyets recalled from the AHL, Husso will be the best option in net for the Ducks for the immediate future.

Timely goals

Goals from Mason McTavish and Mintyukov in the first period, helped establish another early lead for the Ducks. Keen on not letting another game slip away, Leo Carlsson helped ensure the Ducks would leave St. Louis with a win.

After being outplayed by Connor Bedard, Carlsson had a great bounce back performance, with that goal plus an assist, in 17:39 of ice time. An empty net goal from Chris Kreider sealed up the Ducks first win against the Blues, after failing to do so in their previous 10 match ups.

The Ducks will head back to Anaheim, to kick off a mini three game home stand, that opens with a game against the Utah Mammoth.