Pucks of a Feather
Fansided

Ducks Game Day: The Pressure Is On In Big D

By Greg Johnson

ANAHEIM, CA - FEBRUARY 21: Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf (15) skates in towards Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg (3) in the first period of a game played on February 21, 2018 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - FEBRUARY 21: Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf (15) skates in towards Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg (3) in the first period of a game played on February 21, 2018 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Anaheim Ducks defenseman Marcus Peterson (65) fights for the puck with Dallas Stars left wing Remi Elie (40) in the second period of a game played on February 21, 2018, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Anaheim Ducks defenseman Marcus Peterson (65) fights for the puck with Dallas Stars left wing Remi Elie (40) in the second period of a game played on February 21, 2018, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Last night everyone in contention for a Western Conference playoff spot got points…except for the Anaheim Ducks. That loss puts even more pressure on the Ducks to win tonight at Dallas (5:30 PT on FSW).

Are You in the Mood?

The Ducks played well in the third period last night. It just wasn’t quite enough to top Nashville, who is obviously one of the elite teams in the league today. It was great to see Rickard Rakell pot two goals getting him to the 30-goal mark for the second straight year. Someone else is going to have to score tonight though.

Last Time

The last time the Ducks faced Dallas just over two weeks ago, Anaheim came away with a 2-0 win. John Gibson was still on injured reserve. And stellar and aging backup Ryan Miller notched his 42nd career shutout. You remember that game now, right? The Ducks were two men down for what seemed like the entire third period. Ryan Getzlaf scored that deep flip, chip over Ben Bishop, collected the puck and put it into the empty net goal. That game was pretty awesome. It ended with the Stars feeling so sour, they were picking fights after the whistle. Someone tell Corey Perry not to take the fight if Jamie Benn offers again.

Dallas in a Nutshell

Tyler Seguin leads the Stars with 36 goals (4th in the NHL) and 62 points. He’s also third in the league with 269 shots on goal. Defenseman John Klingberg leads Dallas in assists with 49, which is the most by a defenseman this season. The Stars also have offensive weapons Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn, with 59 and 58 points respectively. They also have the man, the mountain, Ben Bishop in net. The Ducks will have to try to find some daylight to shoot at on Big Ben. If you’re a Ducks fan…heck…if you’re a human being, you can’t help but dislike Antoine Roussel. He leads the team with 120 penalty minutes. Apparently, he’s doing more than drawing penalties by being a rat these days. Maybe the officials are onto him.

Brotherly Love

You probably know brothers Jamie and Jordie Benn used to play together on the Dallas Stars. But brothers Brett and Nick Ritchie played against each other in the AHL. And now they’re facing off regularly in the NHL. Watch for them to be banging into everything.  They have combined for 329 hits this season. Is anyone else hoping for a fight between the two big brothers? Just tell their mom not to look.

Ducks Lineup

Hopefully, Randy Carlyle saw the error of his ways last night. He played both Kevin Bieksa and Francois Beauchemin in the same game. Bieksa can still be seen backing up during the first goal of last night’s loss in Nashville, a 3-on-3 rush that shouldn’t have happened. Carlyle should go back to using rookie Marcus Pettersson on the blue line tonight because of some obscure law about senior citizens working on consecutive nights. Gibson played last night and Miller last played February 25, so Miller will likely start. You have to hope the lineup will be:

Forwards:

Rakell – Getzlaf – Perry

Cogliano – Kesler – Silfverberg

Ritchie – Henrique – Kase

Chimera – Grant – Kelly

Defense:

Fowler – Montour

Lindholm – Manson

Pettersson – Bieksa

Goalies:

Miller

Gibson

Are You Kidding Me? Playoffs?!?

According to sportsclubstats.com, the Ducks now have a 70.4% chance of making the playoffs. But a loss tonight will make a big dent in those odds. Dallas is tied with the Ducks at 80 points on the season. The Stars hold the first wildcard spot going into tonight’s action, and they have a game in hand against the Ducks. The Kings are a point back with a game in hand and hold the final wild card spot. Tonight’s game is important. Last night’s loss dropped the Ducks’ chances of playing in the postseason by 6.9%. They can’t take too much more of that considering they are behind in the first tiebreaker, regulation and overtime wins (ROW), at the moment.

Tonight’s Games that Matter

Outside of the Stars and Ducks, there are two match-ups that matter to Anaheim tonight:

Calgary at Ottawa (4:30 PT)

Calgary is four points behind Anaheim. Ducks fans have to hope the Senators have some fight left in them. But Ottawa is 3-5-2 in their last ten games.

Minnesota at Vancouver (7:00 PT)

Minnesota is three points ahead of the Ducks with a game in hand. They hold the third spot in the Central Division. But they’re only three points ahead of Dallas. Vancouver isn’t much better than Ottawa. The Canucks are 3-4-3 in their last ten games.

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