Blues Outlast Ducks, 4-2

ST. LOUIS - Already struggling to find offense, the Ducks did everything they could to make up for the loss of several forwards Tuesday night in St. Louis. But it wasn't enough to stave of Paul Kariya and the Blues in a 4-2 defeat at Scottrade Center.

Former Duck Kariya scored a goal and had three assists Tuesday night as the Blues kept Anaheim winless on the road  at 0-5-1.

The Ducks, who scratched Rob Niedermayer before the game with a reported groin injury, also lost Ryan Getzlaf and Brad May during the course of the game. Getzlaf skated off in the second period with an unspecified injury, and May left the game with an apparent hand injury after a fight with Barret Jackman in the second. May did return in the third period.

St. Louis jumped out to a lead they would never relinquish with three second-period goals after the Ducks had taken a 1-0 lead on a deflection goal by Andy McDonald.

Kariya, who had 72 points for Nashville last season, has nine assists and 11 points for the Blues in his first seven games. Kariya credited his linemates, Keith Tkachuk and Brad Boyes, for helping with his spurt.

"(Tkachuk) got us going," Kariya said. "He was going to the net, creating a lot of traffic, and it was nice to see him rewarded there."

Mark Mowers scored his first goal as a Ducks at 17:38 of the second period, but Anaheim could get no closer than that. The Blues sealed the game with an empty-netter by Kairya at 19:27 into the third.

"It was a hard-fought battle," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "This is the type of game we've been involved with for a while here.

"I thought our guys reached back and gave us everything they had. I've got to be proud of their effort."

The Ducks had four power play opportunities in the third, but could not tie it. Todd Marchant's shot from the slot midway through the period caromed off a goal post, and a Chris Pronger one-timer less than two minutes later hit the crossbar.

Manny Legace had 14 saves on only 16 Ducks shots and improved to 9-1-1 against Anaheim. He hasn't lost to the Ducks since Nov. 16, 1998. J.S. Giguere did all he could with 29 saves in the losing effort.

McDonald gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead 1:37 into the second period when he redirected Kent Huskins' centering attempt past Legace on the Ducks' first shot of the period. Anaheim would not get another shot on goal until 2:22 remained in the period. By then, Kariya had helped the Blues score three times.

"We got it going and kept the pedal down and were rewarded in the second period," Kariya said.

The Blues tied it at 7:01 when Jay McKee's shot from the left point hit Kariya in front. The puck bounced right to Tkachuk and he backhanded it past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Boyes gave the Blues a 2-1 lead at 10:27 when he tipped Kariya's slap shot from the top of the right circle by Giguere. With the Blues on the power play later in the period, Kariya got the puck on the right boards, faked a shot and passed cross ice to Boyes, who put it in the open side at 16:46 to make it 3-1.

The two-goal lead didn't last long as Mowers batted a rebound of Corey Perry's shot by Legace at 17:38 on the Ducks' second shot of the period.

AP contributed to this report