Next Three Games Will Be A Test for the Anaheim Ducks
All 82 regular season games are important: they are the preparation period and constant rehearsals for the “big stage”, or the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But through the grind of the long regular season, there are “easier” stretches of play or interconference road trips. These games, although equal in point value, are not the best barometer to measure how good a team really is. That is not the case in the next three games for the Anaheim Ducks.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks will close out January playing against three teams that could potentially be standing between the team and the Stanley Cup in the playoffs. The Ducks start in Vancouver Tuesday, play the San Jose Sharks Thursday, and travel back to Anaheim for a bout with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Outside of some cross-country road-trips later in the season, this is probably the toughest stretch of games the Ducks have left, and it’s a great test coming out of the All-Star break. Regular season results do not dictate playoff success (as evidenced by the series against the Los Angeles Kings last season), but strong play can go a long way in helping the Ducks’ chances in a seven-game series. The team is 2-0-1 against the Canucks, 1-3-0 against the Sharks, and 1-1-0 against the Blackhawks this season.
The games against Vancouver have new meaning this season, with the Ducks bringing in long-time Canuck Ryan Kesler. All three games have gone past regulation this season. In the first, Nick Bonino scored the winner in the shootout. Andersen made 34 saves in the 2-1 loss, but Eddie Lack stopped all three Ducks in the shootout to take the opening game. The Ducks took the second though, this time winning the shootout thanks to Corey Perry and Jakob Silfverberg converting their attempts. The Ducks took the third game in the series, with a Cam Fowler overtime goal after Francois Beauchemin tied the game late on his first goal of the season. The Canucks are 13 points behind the Ducks in the Pacific Division, and only three points out of the ninth spot in the Western Conference. This could be a potential first-round opponent for the Ducks, and they need to play well and hopefully come away with a win in regulation.
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Thursday, the Ducks will be back in California, but at the SAP Center instead of Honda Center. All three of the Ducks’ losses to the Sharks have been embarrassing in some fashion. In the first game, the Ducks took 90 penalty-minutes and lost 4-1 in a game that probably was even more skewed in favor of the Sharks. Following the game, captain Ryan Getzlaf offered this.
“You’re going to have nights when you don’t have it. Tonight was one of those. It sucks to have it against them.”
The second game didn’t go much better: the Ducks fell 6-4 and were behind 4-0 and 5-1 in the game. In the third loss, the Ducks gave up some pivotal chances, including a 5-on-3 power-play goal to Joe Pavelski, which led to a 3-0 shutout loss. The Ducks’ one win in the series this season went to overtime, where Ryan Kesler ended it, but they’ve mostly struggled this season against San Jose, usually saving their worst team performances while forgoing any sort of discipline. Thursday will be the final meeting of the season between the two clubs. Discipline is a major factor in playing well, and the Ducks have to show that. The details and little things in a game make major differences, especially in the playoffs, when execution is at a premium.
Lastly, the Ducks will return home to take on the Blackhawks. Barring a catastrophic collapse for the Ducks or an unexpected drop in the standings, this matchup would not happen until the Western Conference Finals, but the Blackhawks are one of the best barometers in the NHL for team performance. The teams have split two meetings this season. In the first, the Ducks got a phenomenal 38 save shout-out from John Gibson and a shorthanded third-period goal from Devante Smith-Pelly was all it took for the Ducks to emerge from the United Center with a 1-0 victory. Gibson stood on his head to make some saves, and the team didn’t offer him much support. In the second meeting, the Ducks were crushed 4-1 and were so depleted on defense that they played Josh Manson, Mat Clark, and Jesse Blacker. Frederik Andersen played an outstanding game, stopping 34 of 37 shots, but the Ducks couldn’t get anything going. This will also be the last meeting between the two clubs this season.
Come Saturday, the Ducks will have a clearer idea of where they rank among the best teams in the NHL. The Ducks proved before the All-Star break that their 31-10-6 is no joke: they had a five-game winning streak before the break. The Ducks, with strong play and some wins, could start the rest of the season on the right foot, and that could go a long way towards the ultimate goal: the Stanley Cup.