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After wrapping up a stretch of six games in a row on the road, the St. Louis Blues will come home to play five of their next six games.

That crucial stretch will begin Sunday night when they host the Anaheim Ducks. The game will be moved back two hours to 7 p.m. Central Time due to issues with the team’s charter jet.

The Blues are coming off a 5-1 road victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. They finished their road stretch with a 3-2-1 record.

“We’ve been playing consistently well since the 4 Nations break,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We continue to develop confidence and continue to win games in different fashions.”

Blues winger Jordan Kyrou recorded a hat trick against the Wild to snap a seven-game goal-scoring drought.

“The way he scored his first two goals, it talks about the maturity in his game,” Montgomery said. “How hard he went to the net off a faceoff play to bang home a rebound, and then to put the puck in behind and go get it, like on a self-chip on the forecheck.

“And then he makes a talented play when he has time and space down low. Not a lot of people can make that play where they freeze the goalie and then go wrap it on the far post.”

The Blues won the previous two meetings between these teams, 6-2 at home on Jan. 9 with Joel Hofer in goal and 4-3 in Anaheim on March 7 with Jordan Binnington in net.

Because Hofer started Saturday in Saint Paul, Minn., Binnington likely will draw this start against Anaheim.

The Ducks tightened defensively Friday night to post a 2-1 home win over the Nashville Predators. Anaheim hopes to build off that victory during its three-game road trip to St. Louis, Dallas and Nashville. The Ducks had lost four of their previous five games.

“We never quit,” Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal said. “We’re always ready to play. I think we have a tight group, and we try to show it every night.”

The key stretch of Friday’s victory was the successful kill of a Predators’ five-on-three power play.

“It was just one of those moments in the game where it’s the defining moment,” Ducks winger Alex Killorn said. “We can build a lot of momentum off it, especially when you look at Nashville. They have like three guys that are legitimate 50-goal scorers.”

That penalty kill helped maintain a tight-checking tone to the game, something the Ducks were able to embrace.

“Some of these games coming down the stretch, you’re not always getting as many shots as you want, or whatever,” Killorn said. “It’s kind of a greasy game, for lack of a better word. But we found a way to win, and I’m really proud of the guys.”

The rebuilding Ducks have received a big lift from Leo Carlsson, the second overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, during the second half of the season. He has five goals and 10 assists in his last 15 games.

Anaheim may be without forwards Sam Colangelo and Ross Johnston against the Blues. They sat out Friday’s game with upper-body injuries.

–Field Level Media