Los Angeles Times

Ducks dealt another blow

St. Louis goalie Jaroslav Halak makes 24 saves in career-best seventh straight win.

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Anaheim’s 3-1 loss at St. Louis further hurts its chances for a playoff spot.

st. louis — Jaroslav Halak couldn’t wait to open the newspaper in the morning.

He made 24 saves and posted a career-best seventh straight win to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-1 victory over the Ducks on Thursday night. The Blues have a league-leading 93 points, marking the first time they have led the NHL in points this late in the season since March 9, 2000.

“It’s always nice to look at the standings when you are first,” Halak said. “More fun that way. This was important for us.”

David Backes scored twice and Patrik Berglund had the go-ahead goal for the Blues, who improved to a league-best 28-4-4 at home with their seventh win in eight games.

St. Louis is 20-1-3 in its last 24 home games, and Halak is one of the reasons the Blues have the most points in the NHL. They lead Vancouver by three points in the Western Conference and hold a two-point lead over the New York Rangers in the battle for the President’s Trophy.

Halak has a 1.40 goalsagain­st average and a .943 save percentage during his 7-0 run. He has stopped 167 of 177 shots in the last seven games. Halak also won six successive games from Jan. 3 to 21.

“I’m just trying to have fun out there and keep the guys in the game,” Halak said. “It’s always great to win a few games in a row. It’s a team effort. I wouldn’t be able to do it without the guys.”

The Blues were 30th and last in the NHL after the 2005-06 season, which has made their climb to the top even more enjoyable.

“This feels good,” said forward David Perron. “It’s a lot different from five years ago. We’re enjoying this, but there’s still a lot more work to be done.”

Corey Perry scored his 34th of the season for the Ducks, who kicked off a three-game trip. He converted on a wrist shot from the face-off circle at 4:18 of the second period for his 11th goal in the last 14 games.

The Ducks’ Jonas Hiller made 24 saves in his franchise-record 27th successive start.

“I felt pretty good, but it wasn’t good enough tonight,” Hiller said. “We lost the special-teams battle again and we lost the game again. We took too many penalties.”

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