I do realize that tonight's an extremely important game for the Cardinals. A win against the Brewers and they head to the World Series, giving the city of St. Louis an excuse to ignore the Rams. What it doesn't do, however, is take away the excitement of this young Blues team. St. Louis might be a baseball town first, but there are more than enough fans that'll be tuned into FoxSports Midwest tonight to catch their game against the Anaheim Ducks. Heck, most people'll probably be at a sports bar showing both, so tonight would be an outstanding chance to practice multitasking skills.
This is the first time the Blues meet the Ducks this season, but it's not in a very friendly place. The Blues have gone 13-2-0-1 the last sixteen times they've played at the Pond, and though goaltender Jonas Hiller might have a 3.44 GAA against the Blues, he's still taken them to task five times. Fortunately for St. Louis, if they can solve Hiller they might be able to win the game. The last two Ducks wins were goaltenders duels, and they only scored once in regulation in each. Bobby Ryan has 13 points in 11 games against St. Louis, but so far he hasn't been producing numbers either. He hasn't gotten on the board yet in any of the Ducks four games.
Chances are good that unless Brian Elliott's rewarded for excellent play last night, Jaroslav Halak will be back in net for the Blues. He's 1-2-0 so far this season, but had some success against the Ducks last year with a 1.52 GAA.