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Anaheim Ducks Week 2 Edition Of Monday Mornin’ On The Pond

By Griffin Foster

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Anaheim Ducks fans, welcome back to Monday mornin’ on the pond. Week two is in the books and what an exciting and interesting week it was.

A little recap of what these posts will offer up.

-NHL weekly recap

-Ducks weekly recaps

-Whose hot/not

-San Diego Gulls prospects update

-NHL player of the week

-Ducks 3 stars of the week

-Play of the week

-Preview of week ahead

-Power rankings

Lets dive right into the weeks 2 edition of Monday mornin’ on the pond!

Week 2

Week two was an interesting one. We learned a lot about every team and things are becoming more clear, 48 games were played during week 2.

The Montreal Canadiens are the NHL’s only remaining undefeated team. Their 6-0-0 start has them looking like a contender again this year. New captain Max Pacioretty continues to play well with the ‘C’ on.

Detroit got some playoff revenge on the Tampa Bay Lightning by beating them 3-1 at home. Wings rookie Dylan Larkin has been very impressive as well with six points in his first five games, not to bad.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones shutout the Washington Capitals and he continues his hot start to the season. The Sharks did take a big hit earlier this week when Logan Couture went down at practice and it was announced that he will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a fractured fibula.

Tough break for one of the NHL’s hottest teams through week 2.

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Jack Eichel continues to play well as he picked up another goal against Columbus. The other promising Sabres rookie, Sam Reinhart, picked up his first NHL goal this week as well.

Connor McDavid is starting to get things going as he picked up two goals the other night in a game against Calgary.

The Washington Capitals star center Nicklas Backtrom returned to the lineup and scored a goal while adding two assists in his season debut. Braden Holtby continues to play well and the Capitals look like a strong favorite in the east under Barry Trotz.

Every team has had some ups and down to start the season, but it has been a big downward spiral for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Their 0-6-0 record has them as the NHL’s only team still seeking a win.

Todd Richards days behind the Columbus bench may be numbered, could this be the first coaching change of the season?

The Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames have struggled to begin the season as well, each winning just one game so far. The Kings did however pick up a nice win against the Colorado Avalanche last night.

The St. Louis Blues have gotten off to quite the opposite start, they have 10 points so far and Vladamir Tarasenko looks like he will be an MVP candidate come seasons end.

Toronto is not very good and Jonathan Bernier is really struggling. Tough start for the Babcock era, but this was somewhat expected.

Erik Karlsson leads all defensemen with eight points and Drew Doughty continues to play ridiculous minutes in his quest to win a first Norris trophy. Doughty’s time on ice per game thus far is a league leading 27:45.

Colorado Avalanche defensemen Tyson Barrie has been suspended for three games after he left his feet on a hit to the head that injured Ducks defensemen Simon Despres. Despres and Clayton Stoner have since been placed on injured reserve.

Carey Price is playing like Carey Price, so it is no surprise that his time remains undefeated through six games. He was named the NHL’s first star of the week, Tyler Seguin the second star and Tarasenko the third.

Anaheim Ducks Week 2 

The Ducks were shaky in week 2 to say the least. A rough start to the week ended with some exhaling last night.

The week started with a tough loss to Vancouver. The Ducks outplayed the Canucks for most of the game but it was Vancouver who got the lucky bounce of the game.

Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim Ducks /

Anaheim Ducks

Wednesday night against Arizona was a different story however. Anton Khudobin made his Ducks debut and was nothing short of bad. He allowed three goals on the first eight shots he faced and was replaced by Freddie Andersen.

The positive takeaway from this one was that once Andersen came in the game, the Ducks dictated play for parts of the second period and at times in the third, it was a 1-0 game once Freddie entered the crease.

I went back and watched that game again Thursday morning and I noticed a few things the Ducks did poorly. First, lazy shots with no real attempt to create a rebound or even challenge the goalie.

Far too often the Ducks forwards would come down the wing and just throw a puck in the goalies chest. There was no patience or effort to create anything. The next thing I noticed was a lazy back-check.

Max Domi’s goal is a perfect example as there was a ton of confusion on the back-check and nobody was picking up the open man. Laziness and miscommunication was a struggle for the Ducks against the Yotes.

The final thing I noticed was no net front presence and no tenacity on the forecheck. Mike Smith was seeing everything and once the Ducks lost possesion in the offensive zone, they allowed Arizona to clear easily.

The Ducks got away from their identity.

The game against Colorado was more of the same, some lazy fundamental play and more bad puck luck. Literally everything was sticking to Avs goalie Reto Berra.

So, after scoring just one goal through the first four games, the Ducks offense tore off the snake that had been biting them and they fianlly broke through to score four goals last night, picking up their first win of the season against the Minnesota Wild.

The Ducks were tenacious on the forecheck, creating a good net front presence and it allowed them to beat Devan Dubnyk all night.

There was also more great plays being generated. On Cam Fowler and Rickard Rakell’s goals, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were patient entering the offensive zone. They did not just throw the puck at the net, they skated behind and looked to create a passing lane that would open up a shot from the point, it worked perfectly.

Carl Hagelin also looked really good playing on the Ducks top line. He, Getzlaf and Perry each ended the game with an assist.

The defense continued to produce offense and Fowler and Hampus Lindholm had big nights. Each had a great quick shot from the point that resulted in a goal and Lindholm flicked a backhander from about 190 feet away into an empty net, sealing the victory.

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Anton Khudobin surprisingly got the start in this game as well. Boudreau has a history of going back to guys who are struggling and it worked this time as Khudobin stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced. He will need to keep this kind of play up to be a solidified backup to Andersen.

Rickard Rakell was also great in this game. He made a number of really good plays and he almost scored what would have been the goal of the year to this point in the season.

In other news from this week, Simon Despres took a high hit against Colorado and has been placed on IR. Clayton Stoner’s injury is also lingering and he joined Despres on the inured reserve list.

The Ducks called up top prospect Shea Theodore and experienced defensemen Korbinian Holzer.

Holzer ended up making his Duck debut last night and he played fairly well. A +1 rating and four hits in a little over 14 minutes of ice time, good stuff.

Josh Manson also continues to impress and the longer Stoner remains out, the better the chances get of Manson remaining in the top six.

So in a week that started with struggle, escalated to disbelief and brought along questioning to the man in charge, the Ducks ended on a high note.

Sunday’s win could be the spark they needed to get back on track.

Whose Hot For The Anaheim Ducks

Freddie Andersen

Despite not being the man in net for last nights win, Andersen has gotten off to a great start. The zero in his win collumn is directly related to the Ducks offensive struggles to begin the week.

Freddie allowed just four goals this week and he ranks in the top 10 of save percentage(.947%) and goals against average(1.56). He will start pilling up wins with the Ducks offense back on track.

Whose Not Hot For The Anaheim Ducks

Clayton Stoner

Again, a tough offseason for Stoner has escalated into a rough start to the season.

He has found himself on injured reserve and there is no lack of production from the man who has replaced him, Josh Manson. Stoner’s absence in the lineup is leaving the door wide open for a top six replacement.

San Diego Gulls Prospect Update

The Gulls had just one game this week and it ended in a shootout win.

Max Friberg, Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase led the way with a goal and assist each. Michael Sgarbossa added two assists and John Gibson made 34 saves in the win.

Nick Ritchie now has four points through two games and he could end up as one of the AHL’s leading scorers this season if he remains with San Diego all year.

The Gulls have a busy road trip week ahead. They will be at San Jose on Wednesday and Friday before going to take on Bakersfield Saturday.

NHL Player Of The Week

Lets’s go with someone who was not named one of the NHL’s three stars of the week.

John Tavares, New York Islanders forward.

Tavares had a huge week, seven points in three games. He had the game winning goal in back to back games and dominated at the faceoff dot.

Tavares is off to a hot start and looks like he could once again be a top contender for the Hart trophy this season.

Anaheim Ducks 3 Stars Of The Week

1st Star- Freddie Andersen

Freddie started against the Canucks and Avalanche but played the majority of the game against Arizona as well when he came on in relief. He posted a .943% save percentage this week and allowed just four goals in 170 minutes of action.

The Ducks offense gave him no help but Freddie was the lone bright spot at the beginning of a horrid week for the Ducks.

2nd Star- Hampus Lindholm

Lindholm was named the third star of the game against the Coyotes, a game the Ducks lost 4-0. That should say something about Lindholm’s play that night. He did finish with a -2 rating against Colorado but made up for it last night with a goal and an assist, finishing with a +1 rating.

He has played over 21 minutes in every game to start the season and is beginning to shine. He got a little unlucky with a pending offsides last night that led to the Wild’s lone goal, but other than that he was good for most of the previous week.

3rd Star- Rickard Rakell

Rakell was the first forward to score this season for the Ducks, no surprise right? He continues to make some really nice plays and his confidence is continuing to grow.

He is getting more playing time on the penalty kill as well and is showing a strong two-way game, something we haven’t seen much of from him. He had a great tip on Lindhom’s shot last night and just missed scoring a beauty off of a great move.

Strong week for 67.

Anaheim Ducks Stat Of The Week

1 goal in 4 games. The worst stretch of offense that the Ducks have had in over five years.

Crazy.

Play Of The Week

Rickard Rakell’s almost goal. This shake and bake is insane and if he had finished this one off I would have gone insane. It’s plays like this that make me believe Rakell could be a 25-30 goal scorer very soon. Here’s the play, fast forward to the 2:55 mark and you’ll see some handles from Rakell.

Anaheim Ducks Preview Of The Week Ahead

The Ducks will embark on their first road trip of the season this week. They will take on five of the seven central division teams, starting with Nashville on Thursday night.

The Predators have gotten off to a great 4-1-0 start. Goalie Pekka Rinne is in midseason form and Nashville’s defense is continuing to be one of the leagues best.

Ducks forward Mike Santorelli spent the end of last season with Nashville and he will get his first shot at his former team on Thursday.

The Ducks faired well against Nashville last season.

The Minnesota Wild will get a chance at redemption Saturday night when the Ducks travel to the state of hockey.

Last night’s game between the two teams was a good one and it got heated at times, Saturday should be another fun one to watch.

The road trip continues into the following week where the Ducks will travel to Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis, but we will preview that part of the trip in next week’s edition of Monday mornin’ on the pond.

Power Rankings 

With every team, except Philly, playing in at least five games to this point, I can now offer up some performance based power rankings.

1. Montreal Canadiens

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

3. St. Louis Blues

4. San Jose Sharks

5. Washington Capitals

6. Chicago Blackhawks

7. Nashville Predators

8. Dallas Stars

9. Winnipeg Jets

10. Detroit Red Wings

Final Thoughts

There has been a lot of talk about the job security of Bruce Boudreau. GM Bob Murray is not going to tolerate poor play for much longer so if the Ducks have not picked things up by the end of the upcoming road trip, expect change to be heavily considered. Randy Carlyle round two anyone?

With Despres and Stoner on IR, Korbinian Holzer and Shea Theodore were called up to join the big club. Holzer played last night and it is now being reported that Theodore has been sent back to the AHL. Stoner or Despres may be ready soon and Holzer’s strong play last night made this a logical move with Shea.

Bruce Boudreau threw Anton Khudobin back into the crease last night despite his awful performance in his debut. Just because Khudobin won doesn’t mean he will get the next start. I would expect Freddie to be in the crease Thursday night in Nashville.

Carl Hagelin looked really good last night playing alongside the twins on the Ducks top line. I would expect these lines to remain the same for the beginning of the upcoming road trip. Hagelin’s speed is an interesting compliment to the size and skill of Getzlaf and Perry.

Chris Wagner cleared waivers but remains in Anaheim for now. This could have been a move to prepare for a possible call up of a different forward. Wagner gives the Ducks depth up the middle, but Bob Murray could bring up the scoring touch of Ritchie or Friberg if the Ducks offense struggles again.

That does it for your week 2 edition of Monday mornin’ on the pond, see you next week.

Next: Anaheim Ducks Offensive Woes Not Boudreau's Fault

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