Ducks aim for a better start against the Blues

Coming off a hard-luck loss wherein third-period video reviews wiped out a major penalty but also a tying goal for the Ducks, they’ll drop their shoulders into a matchup with the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Coach Greg Cronin eschewed the opportunity to praise even an energetic effort for a power-play goal by Frank Vatrano, pausing early in his answer to redirect the conversation toward his team’s blasé approach to Periods Nos. 1 and 2.

“The team’s funny, like, we go in spurts. There’s a fearlessness and a drive to our game, when we have that in our minds,” Cronin said. “When we play a measured game, we play on our heels, and that’s what happened the first two periods. So, as a staff, we’ve got to figure out a way to get our guys to play on our toes from the opening faceoff.”

Cronin chopped up his lines in game, even separating Vatrano’s trio Friday.

“A couple games in a row, we weren’t getting any juice out of our line combinations,” Cronin said. “That (Mason) McTavish line was our go-to line, there was some flatness. I just sensed that I should have done it earlier.”

The Ducks (20th) and Blues (25th) have lagged in goals per game this season, having some notable outbursts but little in the way of consistent scoring. The Ducks have had the most hat tricks of any team and the Blues had two in one match last week. Yet St. Louis has scored one or fewer goals four times and the Ducks have five such performances, including Friday’s 2-1 loss to Florida.

The Ducks have missed key offensive personnel. They have split the last two games during which Leo Carlsson has sat as part of his development program, but they have also been without Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale on and off as far back as training camp.

The Sporting Tribune’s Derek Lee reported that Cronin said that “a lot was tied to” the duo’s respective late arrivals in training camp in terms of the core injuries they were experiencing presently.

The core of the Blues’ roster has been reconfigured after shipping out mainstays like former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly and sniper Vladimir Tarasenko during last season. Both have since moved onto a third franchise still. While the Ducks seek balance up front, St. Louis coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday he’d look to mix up his defense pairings during a back-to-back set against the Kings and Ducks this weekend to keep his rearguards fresh.

St. Louis at Ducks

When: 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Honda Center

How to watch: Bally Sports SoCal