On a night the Anaheim Ducks honored one of their all-time great players, one of their youngest continued to show he may earn one of those ceremonies years from now.
Shortly after Ryan Getzlaf was honored for becoming the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, teammate Troy Terry notched a point in his 10th straight game in the Ducks’ 3-1 win over Arizona on Friday night.
Terry will try to make it 11 in a row Sunday when Anaheim closes out a four-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues.
In his point streak, Terry has seven goals and six assists. He’s just the sixth player in franchise history to log a point in double-figure games, joining luminaries such as Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya and Corey Perry. Andy McDonald also hit the scoresheet in 10 straight games.
“The sky is the limit for him,” said teammate Sam Carrick of Terry. “He’s continued to just get better and better. I think he can keep going and who knows how good he can be. We’re getting a taste of it now.”
Nothing about Terry’s first 129 NHL games suggested this was coming. He scored 15 goals with 33 assists between 2017-20. But with the Ducks attempting to retool under new coach Dallas Eakins, Terry is taking advantage of this chance.
Anaheim is aiming to sweep the homestand after victories over Montreal and New Jersey preceded the decision against the winless Coyotes.
But it is stepping up in class several notches against St. Louis.
While the Canadiens, Devils and Arizona are a combined 7-23-3, St. Louis by itself has notched seven wins. Its 15 points are good enough for first place in the stacked Central Division, and a look at the Blues’ stats shows why they’re off to such a good start.
Want offense? The Blues are fifth in the NHL with 36 goals, just two behind the Ducks.
Looking to test their defense? They’ve allowed only 20 markers, third-fewest in the league.
Make it a special teams battle? Good luck with that, as St. Louis is second on the power play at 32 percent and second on the penalty kill at 90.6 percent.
The Blues’ 5-3 win in San Jose on Thursday night was more about their offense. Brandon Saad, who won a surprisingly big free-agent deal, potted two goals. Veteran James Neal snapped a 3-3 tie with his second goal in the second period.
St. Louis expects to get captain Ryan O’Reilly back from a four-game absence due to COVID-19 protocol. His return comes right as the team put defensemen Torey Krug and Niko Mikkola on the protocol list, joining backup goalie Ville Husso and forward Kyle Clifford.
“I’m excited to get back with the boys,” O’Reilly said. “The boys are playing well, they had some good wins there.”
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said the team will have to play future games with less than 18 skaters and two goalies if more players are added to the COVID-19 list because they are out of salary-cap space.
–Field Level Media
