Ducks hang on, end Blues winning streak

ANAHEIM --Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves to help the Anaheim Ducks end the St. Louis Blues winning streak at five with a 2-1 victory at Honda Center on Wednesday.
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (37-23-10), who are two points ahead of the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division and seven points behind the San Jose Sharks for first.
"Points are points right now," Getzlaf said. "We're in a dogfight here, trying to finish as high as we can and make sure we get home-ice advantage in the first round, at least."

Rookie forward Ivan Barbashev scored midway through the third period for the Blues (36-28-5), who are four points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
WATCH: All Blues vs. Ducks highlights
"The push came too late," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said.
The Blues never trailed during their winning streak, but it was the Ducks who took a 1-0 lead at 5:42 of the first period and never trailed.
Getzlaf redirected a loose puck into the slot, where Rickard Rakell one-timed it past goalie Jake Allen for his Ducks-leading 30th goal.
Getzlaf scored shorthanded at 6:37 of the second to make it 2-0.

Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano got loose on a breakaway but lost the puck as he entered the St. Louis zone. Colton Parayko, Nail Yakupov and Barbashev were rushing back for the Blues, but each skated past the puck. Cogliano got it back and dropped it off for a trailing Getzlaf, who shot past Allen into the left corner.
"Not only did we not generate momentum and get enough attempts to the net, but we also gave them a shorthanded goal," Yeo said. "Obviously, that was a big difference in the game there."
Getzlaf has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in the past seven games.
St. Louis was whistled for the first of its five minor penalties 46 seconds into the game when Jaden Schwartz was called for hooking Sami Vatanen. Its first penalty kill started poorly when forward Alexander Steen broke his stick trying to clear the puck after blocking Cam Fowler's shot from the point.

The Blues penalty kill, fourth-best in the NHL since Feb. 1 (88.7 percent), went 5-for-5.
"We were getting frustrated with ourselves a bit," St. Louis forward Paul Stastny said. "We weren't playing a bad game, but we were getting too emotional within ourselves."

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Goal of the game

Barbashev skated into the right side of the Anaheim zone and dropped the puck off for Magnus Paajarvi cutting into the middle. Barbashev pulled up near the left faceoff circle, and Paajarvi backhanded a pass through three Ducks to Barbashev, who scored his third NHL goal in his 17th game.

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Save of the game

Schwartz moved in alone after stealing the puck from Getzlaf above the circles in the Ducks zone, but Bernier gloved his wrist shot from the bottom of the right hash marks with 2:20 left in the second.

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Highlight of the game

Ducks forward Chris Wagner, playing in his 31st game with Anaheim this season, had a big hit on Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson behind the St. Louis net 1:56 into the second period. Edmundson responded by cross-checking Wagner, drawing a two-minute penalty.

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Unsung performance of the game

Though Patrick Eaves didn't get an assist, it was his effort on the forecheck that caused Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to turn over the puck right before Rakell's goal.

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They said it

"We didn't start the game great. We started playing with 10 minutes left in the game. That's why we lost." -- Blues forward Ivan Barbashev
"When you have your big guys playing the way they should, it's easy to hold everyone to a standard that's been set." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle

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Need to know

Rakell has nine points (eight goals, one assist) in the past nine games. He scored on one of his four shots on goal Wednesday. His 20.7 shooting percentage is tied with Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets for fourth in the NHL among players with 80 or more shots. Paul Byron of the Montreal Canadiens leads the League (23.2), followed by T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals (22.6) and Artem Anisimov of the Chicago Blackhawks (21.0).

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What's next

Blues: At the San Jose Sharks on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Ducks: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (10 p.m. ET; PRIME, MSG-B, NHL.TV)