Game 68

Date: Wednesday, March 6th

Time: 7:00 PT / 10:00 ET

Location: Honda Center, Anaheim CA

TV: PRIME, NHL app

Radio: AM830

The Ducks won’t be getting a day off as they jump right into the second half of a back-to-back against the St. Louis Blues. Fortunately for the Ducks it will at least be played on home ice. The Ducks don’t have a whole lot going for them as their playoff hopes are looking less and less likely (not that their trying to make playoffs).

Despite a current two-game losing streak, the Blues have been one of the hottest teams in the league. Since the All-Star break they’ve gone 12-3-1, which involved a 10-game win streak, putting them second in points (25) across that span. This has rocketed them up from clear out of the playoffs to now sitting comfortably in third place of the Central division.

Anaheim hasn’t been as fortunate, going 4-11-0 over the same span of time and have dropped to 2nd-to-last in the Western Conference. John Gibson will be in net so the Ducks by default have a decent chance at winning. We’ll see how much fatigue plays a factor in the Ducks’ offensive pressure.

Keys to the Game

John Gibson do his thing.

We all know that John Gibson hasn’t been the same since the All-Star break. Chalk it up to whatever reason you want - tired from facing countless shots night in and night out, his wisdom teeth causing distress, his back finally breaking from carrying the entire team - but he’s in need of a rebound. The Ducks season might be looking like it’s over, but that doesn’t mean they can’t try and give Gibson opportunities to get in a rhythm again after missing so much time. If the Ducks do win, it’ll be because Gibby dominated the crease like he normally does in 2018/19 Ducks fashion.

Shoot the puck 100 times.

I’ve never seen a team register 100 shots on goal in a game, but I bet if a team did that they’d have a pretty good chance of winning. So that’s what the Ducks need to do. Just go out there and put a shot on net every opportunity that is given. Maybe some shots are ugly, but ugly goals are what fuel the hockey world. (By the way, the closest I’ve seen to 100 SOG was at an ECHL playoff game that went to quadruple overtime with the winning goalie facing 85 shots).

Players to Watch For

Jordan Binnington has been absolutely stellar for the Blues. Some would say he’s been Gibson-like the last month. He’ll most likely be backstopping the Blues once again so look for him to play a big role in how the Blues perform.

Max Jones is putting in two goals tonight though, the first of those being his first NHL goal. So I would keep a better eye on him.