Ducks aim to end home skid as Blues visit

The Anaheim Ducks, who vanquished a 12-game losing streak last week, return to Southern California, where their six-game home losing streak is alive and well.

The Ducks will play host Wednesday to the St. Louis Blues, who are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday but can still wrap up their first winning month of the season with a victory.

The Ducks are back home after a 2-2-1 trip that started with an overtime defeat at Winnipeg and a loss at Detroit that built their losing streak to a franchise-record 12. Their losing ways went on so long that their last home victory was way back on Dec. 12.

The overall drought finally ended with a 3-0 victory at Minnesota on Thursday, followed by a 3-2 triumph at New Jersey on Saturday.

But the Ducks will enter coming off a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday that left them with two goals or less in 10 of their past 15 games. It was a clash between a team struggling on offense and one that knows how to pack it in to protect an early lead. The Islanders scored all three of their goals in the first 21 minutes of action.

"We had opportunities; they just didn't go in," Ducks goaltender Chad Johnson said in the Orange County Register. "Once they got the lead they're pretty hard to play against. They're pretty stingy with the puck. It's hard to get inside. If you do get some shots, it's hard because you don't get many quality chances."

Despite a disappointing season, the Blues (21-22-5) have not been all that easy to score against of late. Before their loss to the Kings, the Blues held five of their previous six opponents to two goals or less.

St. Louis is already assured it will not have its first losing month of the season. That was wrapped up after a 3-2 victory at home over Ottawa on Saturday. The Blues are 6-4-1 this month, with that one overtime point ending in a 2-1 defeat to the Islanders on Jan. 15.

"We had a one-goal lead on the road (Monday) after the first (period) and we need to come out with a little bit more," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly said after the loss to the Kings.

"Unfortunately, we didn't. It wasn't our best game defensively and it killed us. It's tough for (goaltender Jordan Binnington) to constantly be making these massive saves when we're not defending well."

It might not be as tough of a night in goal for the Blues on Wednesday as the Ducks are dealing with a number of key injuries. Right wing Ondrej Kase (arm), center Ryan Kessler (lower body), right wing Jakob Silfverberg (lower body) were considered day-to-day as of Tuesday.

Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller and right wing Corey Perry are out indefinitely with knee injuries, although Perry was a participant at practice Tuesday. Right wing Patrick Eaves, who has been out since December with a broken rib and a back injury, also participated at practice Tuesday.

Blues left wing David Perron (upper body) is listed as day-to-day and did not play Monday at Los Angeles. Center Tyler Bozak (concussion) and center Robert Thomas (shoulder) could play Wednesday.

--Field Level Media