BLUESThe St. Louis Blues continue to generate positive momentum, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Thursday night to earn points in their fourth straight game. Over their last eight games, the Blues' five wins share No. 6 in the NHL.
Detroit got out to a 2-0 lead within the first 90 seconds of Thursday's matchup at Little Caesars Arena, but the Blues perservered for the comeback win. Alexey Toropchenko, Brayden Schenn, Sammy Blais and Jake Neighbours scored unanswered goals to turn the tide in their favor.
"We're playing better hockey," said Schenn. "Better defense, (Joel Hofer) has been playing great for us. There's a lot of things that are going into it - guys are stepping up."
Despite the two early goals, Hofer made 25 saves to earn the win and continue his strong stint since his AHL call-up. In four NHL starts this season, Hofer has a 3-0-1 record with a 1.74 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.
The Blues continue their three-game road trip with a flight across the country to California, where they'll face the Ducks and the Kings in a weekend back-to-back set.
They'll visit the Ducks with a record of 32-33-6, worth 70 points and sixth in the Central Division.
DUCKSThe Anaheim Ducks took their third straight loss on Thursday, falling 3-2 to the Winnipeg Jets as their developmental season winds down.
Cam Fowler scored to give Anaheim the first lead of the game, but the Ducks were unable to mount a comeback once the Jets took the lead halfway through the third period. Fowler's goal marked his 43rd point of the season, setting a new career high in his 13th year with the Ducks.
A bright spot for the Ducks this season has been the play of Mason McTavish, one of the highest-scoring rookies in the NHL this season. The 20-year-old forward only trails Seattle's Matty Beniers atop the rookie leaderboard with 41 points.
Anaheim dealt away two veteran defensemen at the Trade Deadline this year, sending John Klingberg to Minnesota and Dmitry Kulikov to Pittsburgh - each for future assets.
The Ducks will host the Blues for their seventh of eight straight games at Honda Center, their second longest homestand of the season to a 10-game stay in late December.
They'll face the Blues with a record of 23-39-10, worth 56 points and seventh in the Pacific Division. If the season ended ahead of Friday's games, the Ducks would have a 9.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
HEAD-TO-HEADThe Blues won two consecutive home matchups with the Ducks earlier this season, looking for the season series sweep on Saturday night. The Blues are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games in Anaheim, including an eight-game win streak from March 12, 2018 to March 3, 2021.
