Blues fans can settle down now. Their team took the progress from the Phoenix game, applied it to 60 minutes of action at Anaheim and drubbed the talented Ducks 5-0.

Despite losing forward Alex Steen to his serious wrist injury, the Blues were able to roll four lines, play the body, sustain pressure and do more damage on their power play.

“They out-skated us,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle told the Los Angeles Times.

The Blues killed off five power plays, too, and left the Ducks muttering to themselves.

“When your team gets frustrated, then they start to do things out of character that you don’t want them to do,” Carlyle told the Orange County Register. “They try to do too much. … And then it just seemed like we were all over the map. And so it’s back to the drawing board.”

Second-year forward T.J. Oshie had a huge impact on the game, as did second-year defenseman Erik Johnson. These are just two of the players expecting to take a big step this season.

The Blues got a lift from hit man Cam Janssen in this game, but the willingness of B.J. Crombeen and Brad Winchester to assert themselves lessens the need to start an agitator/enforcer on most nights. The Note had no problems Saturday night handling Anaheim’s rough stuff.

Blues fans enjoyed the Carlo Colaiacovo goal, since offensive depth on the current blue line is a concern. Puck-rushing rookie Alex Pietrangelo hasn’t been able to crack the lineup, so there isn’t much firepower beyond Erik johnson in this defensive corps.

While on the West Coast, the Blues rebuilding success got favorable reviews. West Coast scribes noted that Paul Kariya is trying to reestablish himself as one of the NHL’s most explosive performers.

AROUND THE RINKS: Down in the AHL, old friend Curtis Sanford beat the Peoria Rivermen in an overtime thriller. In that loss to Hamilton, Riverman defenseman Jonas Junland scored his fourth goal of the season. Although he hasn’t wowed the Blues front office to this point in his North American career, perhaps other NHL teams will begin taking an interest in him . . . How about the Coyotes? They continued their surprising early-season surge by punishing the Bruins 4-1. The Western Conference is so far ahead of the Eastern Conference these day it’s scary. The Blue Jackets, like the Blues, appear poised to make a big move this season . . . In the East, both the (Gilligan’s) Islanders and Maple Leafs are shockingly inept. Toronto should improve as the team gets healthier, but Isle appear committed to getting the first overall pick again. Too bad this kid is too young to be draft-eligible in 2010 . . . The Lightning remain a mess, thanks largely to a crippling rift between the team’s owners . . . On the other hand, the long-slumbering Rangers may finally be making a move. Overhauling the roster has, to this point, paid very nice dividends. . . . Montreal spent a lot of money overhauling its offense and the early returns have not been encouraging. New coach Jacques Martin has a big challenge on his hands. GM Bob Gainey may need to make additional changes to get this team into gear. Maybe he shouldn’t have let Alexei Kovalev depart to the arch-rival Senators . . . As it turns out, 2009 would have been a good year to have one of the top three picks in the NHL Entry Draft. The kids are all right . . . Avs defenseman Kyle Quincey doesn’t need a pep talk to get fired up against the Red Wings . . . Hockey Guy always enjoyed visiting Quebec City, one of the great travel stops in all of North America. If that city can build a new arena, as planned, it could bring the NHL back. Gary Bettman’s grand Sun Belt experiment is failing and numerous teams could move during the next decade. Winnipeg also has a nice downtown arena and Saskatoon, a yesteryear bidder for the Blues, also wants in. The strength of the Canadian dollar makes the NHL more viable in the Great White North . . . If you believe the NHL’s current scoring system is silly, then you will enjoy this piece.