What we learned from the Ducks’ 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues

No one was expecting a scoring fest with the Ducks and St. Louis Blues. Their matchups usually have more fists than goals given the traditional bad blood between them.

But the Ducks are a tighter outfit these days, and their 2-1 win at Honda Center on Wednesday arrived through their tenets of defense and goaltending.

Continued hot play from Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell helped too.

Here’s what we learned:

This is the Getzlaf we’ve come to expect

Getzlaf wasn’t immune from criticism earlier this season when he had offensive struggles. His ruts are more glaring because he’s the captain and he’s expected to lead the Ducks out of their inconsistent ways.

Not much more could be asked of him lately. He has 12 points in seven games and been effective at both ends.

“When you have your big guys displaying the work ethic that’s required, it makes it easier to hold everyone else accountable to the same standard,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “That’s what we’ve asked of not only Getzy, but all of our veteran players. We have an influx of young guys, and that is part of their leadership role. It’s not always what you say, but it’s more about what you do. That’s very important.”

The Ducks’ game could translate well to the playoffs

They might not be scoring buckets of goals, but the Ducks have stuck to their strengths of defense, goaltending and penalty killing.

Those pillars usually transfer well to the playoffs, where grind-it-out, low-scoring games are common.

It helps to close the doors late. The Ducks are 26-2-1 when leading after two periods, and allow an NHL-low 48 third-period goals. That confidence showed Wednesday.

“We’re doing a really good job to try to dump the puck deep and kill some time in their zone,” goalie Jonathan Bernier said. “Sometimes just throw the puck to the net to get a faceoff. We’re doing all the right things right now.”

The fourth line made an impact

If there’s one area that sags for the Ducks, it’s production from the fourth line.

They’re not really depended on to score, but if they’re not doing so, they have to tilt the game through forechecking.

Chris Wagner took his cue with a big hit on Joel Edmundson against the boards in the second period.

Wagner then induced Edmundson into a cross-checking penalty. The Ducks didn’t score on the power play, but the sequence was indicative of some welcome fourth-line energy.