ST. LOUIS — Two teams with little time to shore up their defensive play will meet Sunday night when the St. Louis Blues host the Anaheim Ducks in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams at Scottrade Center.Both teams lost road games Saturday night when the Blues fell 4-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime and the Ducks dropped a 5-3 decision to the Dallas Stars.The back-to-back set is the first of the season for each team.Article continues below ...The loss Saturday was a particularly dispiriting one for the Ducks Brendan Leipsic Jersey Kids , who raced out to a 3-0 lead before the midway point of the second period but allowed four goals in a span of fewer than seven minutes before intermission. The Stars racked up a franchise-record 30 shots in the second period.The Ducks, who pulled John Gibson after the second period, limited the Stars to one goal — an empty netter by Radek Faksa with 1:28 remaining — on seven shots in the third.“Our team performance, obviously, in the second period wasn’t good, but in the third, we played more of the way we need to play,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “But it takes 60 minutes to win in the NHL. We only played 40 minutes.”As far as defenseman Cam Fowler was concerned, Saturday night was a long time coming for the Ducks, who allowed opponents to fire 134 shots at Gibson in their first four games but still opened 3-0-1. “I feel terrible,” Fowler said. “He’s been phenomenal all year. He’s the reason why we even have a chance most nights. As bad as tonight was http://www.canucksshoponline.com/authentic-alex-burmistrov-jersey , if you look at our shot totals for us in the first five games, it has not been good. And he’s been our best player, by far, so I feel awful for him.”The Blues rode a roller coaster as well Saturday when they fell behind 2-0 before scoring three straight goals spanning the second and third periods. But Blackhawks right winger Alex DeBrincat scored the tying goal with 6:54 left in regulation before he collected the game-winner with nine seconds left in overtime.“It’s good that the guys battled back, we got a point,” Blues head coach Mike Yeo said. “But still, there’s some areas that need to improve here.”The Blues have given up at least four goals in three of their first four games.“You have to play smart to be good defensively,” Yeo said. “And I think that when we start to have sort of an internal pride in our locker room, that when you’re on the ice, that it matters as much not to have anything bad happen as it does for something good to happen, then when we start to come together a little bit more as a team.”The Blues announced Saturday night that backup goalie Chad Johnson will make his season and St. Louis debut Sunday. Johnson http://www.canucksshoponline.com/authentic-brock-boeser-jersey , who signed as a free agent on July 1, is 3-2-0 in six career appearances against the Ducks.Miller is likely to get his first start of the season for the Ducks. He is 2-7-0 in nine career games against the Blues. DENVER (AP) — Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon put on a show that made Cole Harbour proud, and it was MacKinnon who walked away with bragging rights for the Nova Scotia town.MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, including one on Gabe Landeskog’s tiebreaking score midway through the third period, and the surging Colorado Avalanche overcame Crosby’s natural hat trick to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Wednesday night.MacKinnon’s team won the matchup of hometown stars, but Crosby nearly stole it with his 11th career hat trick.“It’s not easy when Sid gets going,” MacKinnon said. “He starts kind of galloping out there.”Colorado won its sixth straight game and is 8-0-1 in its last nine.MacKinnon, 23, and Crosby, 31, are both former No. 1 overall draft picks. They have become offseason training partners and have made TV commercials together. Those things are put aside when they face each other twice a season http://www.canucksshoponline.com/authentic-henrik-sedin-jersey , but Wednesday’s game might get a second viewing when they get together.“I’m sure this is a game we will talk about for a while,” MacKinnon said. “We don’t play each other much, so for a regular-season game this is one of the fun ones I’ve been a part of. By Sid getting a hat trick and obviously us getting a big one.”MacKinnon had an empty-net goal with 29 seconds left, his 18th goal of the season. Samuel Girard, Erik Johnson, Colin Wilson and Carl Soderberg also scored for Colorado, and Mikko Rantanen had two assists.The Avalanche’s top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, who leads the NHL in scoring with 42 points, had eight points and continues to dominate. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan didn’t hesitate when asked if the trio is the best he’s seen this season.“Yes,” he said. “They’re not easy to contain. They’re three elite players that are all on the same line.”Sullivan has a two-time Hart Trophy winner in Crosby Jacob Markstrom Jersey , and he put on an MVP-worthy performance for the Penguins by erasing a 3-0 deficit by himself.He struck twice in the final minute of the second period. His first goal came off his own rebound on a breakaway with 52 seconds to go, and he scored again with 10 seconds left with Colorado defenseman Patrik Nemeth off for holding. Crosby tied it at 4:43 of the third to complete his first hat trick of the season. He has 13 goals.“Sid tried to will us a win with his effort,” Sullivan said. “I thought he was terrific. He was terrific all night long.”Landeskog broke the tie with his 15th goal at 10:05. The Penguins pulled Tristan Jarry for an extra skater, but MacKinnon and Soderberg scored to seal it.“We didn’t give up, so that’s a good thing,” Crosby said. “Still, when you put yourself in that position to get back in the game after coming back from three you want to at least get a point out of it.”Girard gave Colorado a 1-0 lead with his second goal at 11:19 of the first period. Johnson scored at 5:13 of the second and Wilson made it 3-0 at 7:52.The Penguins challenged Johnson’s goal for goaltender interference but it was upheld upon review.NOTES: Colorado D Tyson Barrie missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Pittsburgh D Kris Letang, who set a franchise record for games played in Winnipeg on Tuesday, had his four-game point streak snapped. … Colorado is 1-1-1 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. It is 3-1-0 in the first game. … The first penalty wasn’t called until Crosby drew a holding-the-stick minor 49 seconds into the second period. Colorado’s Alexander Kerfoot got a high-sticking minor 19 seconds later.UP NEXTPenguins: Host Philadelphia on Saturday night.Avalanche: Host St. Louis on Friday night.