Three Areas the Anaheim Ducks Must Address Before the Postseason

Feb 12, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Anaheim Ducks forward Nate Thompson (44) skates with puck against the Carolina Hurricanes defensemen Brett Bellemore (73) during the first period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

1. Return to the Team’s Identity

The Ducks are a versatile team, with some speed, some skill, and some size, but if they had to pick a way they could be most successful, it would be in their ability to use their size and physicality along the boards. The Ducks are at their best when they can establish their forecheck early on. The team utilizes players who can effectively grind along the boards and cycle the puck. However, the Ducks have been unable to do that as of late. They have been losing battles along the boards and not sustaining chances in the opposing third.

The dump-and-chase strategy epitomizes what hockey is: a game of patience. Goals and quality scoring chances are limited and usually arise from the opposing team making a mistake. Dump-and-chase, therefore, can be made extremely ineffective, since it requires puck-retrieval to initiate the grind, and the team on the attack can risk one-and-done chances that yield little to no offensive pressure.

However, a strong forecheck can initiate the cycle, wear an opponent out, and create the mistakes that lead to scoring chances. That has been an element the Ducks have really lacked as of late, but they need to get back to playing to their strengths. The Ducks do have players to engage in a quick-strike offense, but this is a team that could be in trouble if it decides to engage in a run-and-gun philosophy with other teams, especially against those that have more team-speed than they do (such as the Dallas Stars in last year’s playoff-series, where the Stars’ speed made up the sizable gap between the team’s regular-season records).

The Ducks have seemingly lost their identity during this stretch of poor play after the All-Star weekend, but luckily, there are still 25 more games left in the regular-season for the Ducks to figure things out. The team has a great group of forwards who are good in the corners and effective on the forecheck, including Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, Rickard Rakell, Nate Thompson, Patrick Maroon, and Devante Smith-Pelly. Those aren’t necessarily players that utilize speed as their best asset: instead, literal strength is where the team’s strength lies. Hopefully, the Ducks can get this issue sorted out in the next 55 days before the regular-season concludes.

Next: 2. Defense Corps