October 26, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler (17) and center Ryan Getzlaf (15) celebrate the goal scored by left wing Matt Beleskey (39) against the San Jose Sharks during the third period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The Anaheim Ducks will now embark on a four game road trip, where they will face four consecutive matches against Central Division foes. Those four opponents were all playoff teams last season and are expected to be in the hunt for playoff spots again this year. The Ducks will start by traveling to the United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, a team picked by many to be a Stanley Cup contender and possibly win their third championship in six years.
Chicago is currently 5-2-1 after defeating the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Sunday. Corey Crawford is dealing with an upper-body injury, so it is possible that the Ducks will see Antti Raanta or Scott Darling in net for Chicago, the latter of whom stopped 32 of 33 shots against the Senators to win his NHL debut. Patrick Sharp leads the Blackhawks with eight points, and his three goals are tied with Patrick Kane and Andrew Shaw for the team lead. Workhorse Duncan Keith has five points and has logged 26:16 of ice time per game this season, while Jonathan Toews leads all Blackhawks forwards with 20:48 of ice time. Toews, also known as “Captain Serious”, has six points while Kane has seven.
Point Streaks, General Notes:
Getzlaf and Perry were held scoreless for the second time this season. This was the first time this season both had been held scoreless in the same game.
Francois Beauchemin logged 25:45 of ice time to lead the team. Hampus Lindholm was second with 24:21. Both played 4:12 shorthanded. While those two logged monster minutes, Rickard Rakell only played 6:41, as Boudreau shortened his bench as the game went on.
With 90 penalty minutes, the Ducks went from 6th in terms of penalty minutes per game (9.9, 79 in eight games) to dead last (18.8). Anaheim has 14 more penalty minutes than the next team (San Jose), and the Ducks have 45 more penalty minutes than the next team who has also played nine games (Colorado has 124 penalty minutes in nine games).
One positive: Anaheim still leads the NHL in faceoff percentage after winning 40 of 73 draws on Sunday, though their season faceoff win percentage dropped to 56.0%. Getzlaf is third in the NHL in faceoff win percentage, winning 60.7% of his draws this season. He only trails Manny Malhotra (67.5%) and Patrice Bergeron (62.1%) among players who have taken a minimum of 100 draws. Kesler is ninth in the NHL in faceoff percentage with the same restrictions, at 58.0%.