Recap: Don't Say I Didn't Warn You About Stewart! (Blues 2, Ducks 1 OT)

Final Score: Ducks 2, Blues 1 OT

First Period Recap: This game began promisingly, when Saku Koivu scored his eighth goal of the season (and 798th career point) late in the first period. The Ducks prevented some crucial Blues clears in the moments preceding the goal, and Cam Fowler set up the goal with a cross-ice feed to Bryan Allen. The puck deflected off Koivu, and went top shelf on Blues goaltender Jake Allen. Those of you who still hold grudges against Allen: he's doing what we pay him to do. The Blues had some good scoring opportunities even earlier in the period, including David Perron's shot on goal that clinked off Hiller's left post.

Second Period Recap: And this is when we opened the door. Matt Beleskey was called for interference halfway through the second period, and the Blues scored on their power play. Vladimir Tarasenko - who had been out the previous 10 games with a concussion - reversed a pass to Kris Russell, who shot the puck over Hiller's right shoulder. Ouch. David Steckel (new guy) set up Emerson Etem for an almost-goal, and Andrew Cogliano almost scored as well, but was stonewalled by Jake Allen.

Third Period Recap:We could've really used Corey Perry here. The Ducks placed more pressure on St. Louis this period, and the Blues did not register a shot until 9:24 in the third period. Unfortunately for us, Jake Allen continued to stonewall us, and several close-calls from Teemu and Bobby were denied.

Overtime: It only took 45 seconds until Chris Stewart took a feed from Vladimir Sobotka and deked around Hiller for the game-winning goal. This was a frustrating conclusion to a game we should have won (I'll say that a few times during this recap). I'm glad we'll be at home on Monday.

**********

The Good: The much-maligned defensive pairing of Cam Fowler and Bryan Allen was actually pretty effective tonight. They set up the Ducks' first (and only goal) of the evening, Allen blocked some crucial shots, and Fowler had some incredible shifts.

The Bad: Losing a game we should have won. We outshot them, and had a lead before we let a guy who hadn't scored since the 2011-12 season tie the game.

The Ugly: Chris Stewart? (But seriously, guys, the man is good. A line of Stewart-Getzlaf-Perry is drool-worthy).

**********

3rd Icehole:Steckel wearing Rucchin's number. I'm not as outraged about it as Daniel was (I like Steckel), but Rucchin is currently 4th in all-time franchise scoring (only Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, and Ryan Getzlaf are ahead of him). He does deserve some respect.

2nd Icehole:The refs. None of the calls seemed to go our way. Does the NHL realize that we are no longer the "Dirty Ducks"?

1st Icehole:Teemu Selanne. He was directly responsible for the turnover that led to the game-winning goal. [Ed. Note: This was one of Selanne's very, very few bad games in his career.- JN]

Next Game: Monday, March 18 at 7 pm vs San Jose.