Ducks say they must rise to the level of physical St. Louis Blues

The mettle the Ducks displayed with two late scores against a Minnesota Wild team that hadn’t given up a goal through eight-plus periods now transfers to a Sunday test of muscle against the St. Louis Blues.

“Biggest team we’ve played this season, fun challenge,” said big-hitting, 6-foot-2, 225-pound forward Tim Jackman, maybe the only Anaheim player who would describe the game as fun.

“They are like nothing else in the NHL,” Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. “They are by far the most physical team we play and you have to expect to get punished and finished every play. We have to rise to that level.”

The Ducks swept the Blues in three meetings last season, when St. Louis squandered a Western Conference lead in the final weeks and was then ousted by Chicago in the first round.

For this campaign, the Blues have added high-priced free-agent center Paul Stastny.

“A man’s game … a lot of hitting, very little space to go around,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau. “You have to be willing to take a hit and give one.”

The Ducks have prided themselves on becoming a more physical team this season, but rugged forward Patrick Maroon is out with a hurt knee and big defensemen Bryan Allen (lower body injury) and Mark Fistric (sick) are ailing.

“We have yet to play a truly heavy team,” Lovejoy said. “These are games our big, fast team will rise.”

Go with the flow

Center Nate Thompson skated Saturday with forwards Jackman, Emerson Etem and Chris Wagner, another different possible combination on Thompson’s fourth line.

“It’s fine with me, we have a good enough forward group that when it does change, we’re good enough, deep enough, to play together,” Thompson said.

Thompson, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the off-season for draft picks, usually finds Etem or Jackman on his line, but with line shifts and adjustments for injuries, he’s played alongside Matt Beleskey, Andrew Cogliano, Jakob Silfverberg and Chris Wagner too.

Known for selfless dedication to the game’s grunt work, Thompson in Friday’s 2-1 home-opening victory over Minnesota, found himself rebounding a Corey Perry shot that bounced off the leg pad of Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper, contributing the decisive assist back to Perry with 8:25 remaining in the third period.

“You’re always looking for improvement,” Thompson said before the game. “I can be better … in all aspects. I’ll keep getting better and try to add some offense, too.”

Mission accomplished, along with eight faceoff wins out of 13 opportunities and assistance on three successful penalty kills versus the Wild.

Gibson update

Ducks’ backup goalie John Gibson, who requested a weekend assignment to minor league Norfolk, gained a 3-2 victory over the Kings’ affiliate, Manchester, on Friday, stopping 32 shots, including an acrobatic stop on a power play.

“There’s always rust when you don’t play for a while,” Gibson told the Virginian-Pilot. “Just doing my job. Just save the puck, whether it’s a Grade-A shot or something else.”

Gibson hadn’t played since Oct. 9, when he allowed six goals on 39 shots in the Ducks’ season-opener at Pittsburgh — his hometown.

He expects to return to Anaheim on Sunday after another game Saturday.

New first liner?

Devante Smith-Pelly skated alongside first-liners Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on Saturday, a possible preview for Sunday.

“Watching them bring it every night [last season], you see what it takes to be an elite player,” Smith-Pelly said. “Last year in the playoffs helped me, I feel much more comfortable with them.”

Boudreau said Smith-Pelly has gained the seasoning to handle the task, showing “the attitude that, ‘If I play my game, everything else works.’”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire

DUCKS SUNDAY

VS. ST. LOUIS BLUES

When: 5 p.m.

Where: Honda Center.

TV: Prime Ticket. Radio: 830.

ETC. Like the Ducks, the Blues added three new centers, with Stastny, Patrik Berglund and Jori Lehtera. The teams will renew acquaintances Oct. 30 in St. Louis.