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Blues continue homestand against Ducks

Dec 8, 2011 - 4:10 PM (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Blues will continue a five-game homestand tonight versus the Anaheim Ducks at Scottrade Center.

The Blues ended a two-game slide by evening their record on the homestand at 1-1 with Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Central Division-rival Detroit Red Wings thanks to Patrik Berglund's goal early in the third period. Alexander Steen and David Backes also scored for St. Louis, which is tied with Detroit for second in the division -- three points behind Chicago (36 pts).

St. Louis won for the eighth time in 12 tries and got 27 saves from goaltender Brian Elliott. He leads the league with a 1.56 GAA and a .944 save percentage.

"It's a confidence booster," Elliot said of the win. "It's a big step for us."

The Blues are 9-3-1 in the Gateway City this season and will also host the Sharks and Rangers on the residency. Since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach for the Blues, they are 9-2-3. St. Louis has registered points in 12 of its last 14 games, and is one home win shy of 900 in franchise history. Jason Arnott is expected to play in his 1,200th NHL game tonight.

St. Louis has scored the first goal in eight of its last 12 games, going 8-2-2 over that stretch.

Anaheim just went 2-3-1 on a six-game homestand and hope to end a seven-game slide as the guest when it opens a quick two-game road trip tonight against the Blues and Predators. It is 2-5-4 away from home and last in the Pacific.

In Tuesday's 3-2 win versus Los Angeles in the finale of the homestand, Bobby Ryan scored with 48.8 seconds left to lead the Ducks to victory. Ryan also had a goal in the first period and Corey Perry lit the lamp for Anaheim, which won for only the third time in its last 18 tries.

"It's not the Cup but it felt pretty good," said Ducks new head coach Bruce Boudreau, who claimed his first win in three games with the team (1-1-1). "The guys were all smiling in the locker room and now we have to build on this."

Jonas Hiller made 37 stops in a winning effort. The Ducks are shooting for back-to-back wins for the first time since a four-game winning streak from Oct. 8-17 this season.

Teemu Selanne assisted on both Ryan goals and owns eight multi-point games this season. He has recorded 12 points in the last 10 contests and needs two points to reach 900 as a Duck. Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have that same amount of points in the past 10 games.

Anaheim defeated St. Louis, 4-2, at home back on Oct. 16 this season and has won two straight and three of the last four meetings between the teams. The Ducks are winless in three straight trips to St. Louis, having been outscored by a 20-7 count in that time.