Preview: Ducks Ready for First of Two-Game Set in St. Louis

The Ducks begin a two-game set in St. Louis tonight, facing off with the Blues at Enterprise Center.
PUCK DROP: 5 P.M. | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER

Anaheim hits the midway point of a unique three-game trip tonight, which includes consecutive games against its Western Conference foe. The Ducks kicked off the trek Thursday night with a
tough 3-2 loss in Winnipeg
, falling to the Jets on Kyle Connor's hat trick goal scored with less than a minute to play in regulation.
"We played a really solid team road game," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "We stood right in there and were swinging with one of the better teams in the league right now. A missed puck play and a missed assignment in the last minute cost us.
"We'll take the good things we did in the game, which were a lot. Obviously, we'll look to correct and reinforce other things in the game."

The Ducks (5-11-1, .324) sit eighth in the Pacific Division, with a 2-7-1 mark away from home ice.
"We're tired of losing," Trevor Zegras said. "Games like Winnipeg] where we were in it the whole way. It's such a fine line of winning and losing in this league.
"We played 59 good minutes...but you give a good player some room and he scores."
Anaheim visits St. Louis to take on one of the league's hottest teams. Less than two weeks ago, the Blues were stuck in an eight-game losing streak and sinking to the bottom of the Central Division. Now, they're riding a five-game winning streak, including victories over Vegas and Colorado. A St. Louis win Saturday night would set a new NHL record for consecutive wins following an eight-game regulation losing skid.
"When I watch the tape, they do a lot of good things," Blues head coach Craig Berube said of facing the Ducks. "They've got some good skill and one-on-one players...We have to be ready to go, check and play a hard game.
"We can't allow their one-on-one skill to get moving."
The Blues pushed that win streak to five this week with back-to-back wins over Chicago and Washington, the latter of which came in a six-round shootout after a 47-save performance by backup netminder Thomas Greiss.
"We just sat back, turned pucks over," forward Brayden Schenn
[told NHL.com's Lou Korac postgame
. "Didn't close out plays defensively and forced us to play a lot of time in our own end.
"That's what happens. You give up 50 shots, you're just probably not [playing] hard enough defensively, and guys that are over there, they have a ton of skill. They're going to make the most of it. And we relied on our goalie way too much."
"We were a little bit gassed [from being] on the road and coming back," Berube added. "Got off to a good lead, which was important, but the goalie was excellent."