The Ducks turned in their worst effort of the postseason in Game 6, but there is one area in which the team can show instant improvement.
Before the Western Conference Finals began, I provided my three reasons why the Anaheim Ducks would beat the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games.
Two of my three reasons – the combination of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and the fact that it is Bruce Boudreau‘s time to win it all – are out of my hands. I can’t promise karma is still in Boudreau’s corner, and it’s up to Getzlaf and Perry to get work done, something they definitely did not do in Game 6.
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There was one more reason that I felt Anaheim would win this series, though: the Ducks defensemen are better scorers than Chicago’s. Up until Game 6, this was not only a true statement, but it was also a reason why Anaheim had grabbed a 3-2 series lead.
Then Game 6 happened, and Anaheim’s aggressive blueliners hurt them far more than they helped. If Bruce Boudreau allows his defensemen to play as aggressively in Game 7 as they did in Game 6, the Ducks have virtually no chance of winning.
Fortunately, shoring up the Ducks’ defense is an easy fix, and it can be done in a way that still allows the blueliners to generate offensive chances. Let’s take a look at how Anaheim’s aggressive use of its defensive pairings burned the Ducks in a Game 6 loss.
Chicago’s first goal of the evening came courtesy of Brandon Saad, who took a pass at center ice and then turned on the jets, splitting two Ducks’ d-men and breaking in on Frederik Andersen for what was a disgustingly easy goal.
Notice where Anaheim’s defensemen were when Saad took the pass: one was past half ice (along with all three of Anaheim’s forwards), while Hampus Lindholm was just barely on the defensive side of the red line. This is terrible spacing by the Ducks’ forwards, for starters – it is what I would expect from nine and ten year-olds – but the defensemen are too close to the offensive zone considering that the Ducks did not have the puck.
Saad had already burned the Ducks with a short-handed breakaway earlier in this series, and the Blackhawks on the whole are the faster team, so you would think Anaheim would make sure its defensemen were hanging back a bit when Chicago has control of the puck, but clearly this just was not the case. When Saad gathers in the pass, he is already moving forward, meaning he is past the defenseman who should have been covering Saad easily. From there, it is footrace to beat Lindholm, who did not have enough time or space to adequately defend Saad.
Fast forward to the third period. Anaheim has climbed back into the game, shaving a 3-0 Blackhawks lead down to 3-2. The Ducks have had some quality scoring opportunities, and you get the feeling that Chicago is going to have a hard time holding onto that lead. Then this happened:
When Andrew Desjardins breaks out there is only one defenseman to contend with. Desjardins really has nowhere to go, so he centers the puck and hopes for the best. Had Anaheim had a second defenseman back, this play goes nowhere; instead, the puck is gathered up by Andrew Shaw, who has a step on Getzlaf.
Why was Getzlaf trying to stop Shaw, instead of an actual defenseman? Go back and watch the video – after Patrick Maroon nearly tied the game up, check out who is trying to win control of the puck along the boards practically even with the goal line. If you were expecting to see Ryan Getzlaf there, you have a good hockey IQ! Sadly, it wasn’t Getzlaf fighting for the puck deep in the offensive zone; it was Francois Beauchemin, which means that when the puck was cleared out of the zone, he had as good a chance of getting back on defense as Bruce Boudreau did.
Game, set, match, Chicago.
I love the fact that the Anaheim Ducks have gotten consistent offensive production out of its blueliners, and I’m not expecting the team to over-react to Game 6 and institute something like a 1-3-1 neutral zone trap. Game 7 could very well be won off of the stick of a defenseman, and if that is indeed the case, I like Anaheim’s chances, since they have the advantage when it comes to scoring from the blueline.
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But when you are playing a team like Chicago, you have to eliminate the 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 chances. The Blackhawks have the speed to burn defenseman who are playing too far up, and have finally figured that out and are using it to their advantage. Anaheim’s d-men cannot afford to pinch too far down the boards, and they certainly cannot be fighting for pucks at the goal line.
I understand that Anheim’s strategy throughout these playoffs has been to get the puck deep, forecheck like crazy, and cycle the puck until an opportunity arises. That strategy worked against the Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Flames, and it worked against an exhausted Chicago team in Game 5. The Chicago team that shows up for Game 7, however, will not resemble any of those teams, and if the game goes anything like Game 6 did, the Ducks will be dead ducks if they do not adapt.
Fortunately, adapting is neither difficult nor drastic. Anaheim’s defensemen can continue to pinch in; they simply cannot drop as far down the boards, and they must be mindful of who is on the ice for Chicago, as certain forward combinations should elicit a more defensively conservative approach from the Ducks.
Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks need to get back to screening the hell out of Corey Crawford and having their d-men tee it up from the blueline. The dump-and-chase approach should not be the only strategy the Ducks employ while on offense; Anaheim has big bodies who can make life miserable for Crawford, and blasting the puck in from the point keeps the blueliners from getting caught with their pants down when Chicago attempts to break out of the zone.
Game 7 will be the first elimination game these Anaheim Ducks have faced in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. All season long, this team has proven to be quite resilient, but the ghosts of Ducks teams past will be flying around the Honda Center come Saturday evening. Anaheim’s superstars must show up to play, and luck as always will play a little part in determining which team lives to fight for the Cup, but Anaheim’s defensemen need to play a more disciplined and slightly conservative game in order to keep Chicago from breaking a tight game wide open.
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