Anaheim Ducks Week 3 Edition Of Monday Mornin’ On The Pond

Anaheim Ducks fans, welcome back to Monday mornin’ on the pond. Here is your week three edition!

Week 3 Around The NHL

The Montreal Canadiens are off to a historic start, 9-0 has them looking like the early favorites. To make things even more incredible, their goal differential thus far is +23. The next best goal differential is +11, let that sink in.

The New York Rangers are clicking on all cylinders as well. Former Chicago Blackhawk goaltender Antti Raanta is now the man backing up king Henrik in New York. Raanta has been incredible in his first few games, helping the Rangers get off to a great start.

As you probably saw first hand Thursday night when they destroyed the Ducks, the Nashville Predators have been the western conference’s best team so far.

As if a first defensive pairing of Shea Weber and Roman Josi weren’t enough, the Preds are now witnessing the emergence of a young super star, Seth Jones. The deepest and arguably most talented blue-line in the west has gotten off to a great start.

The Washington Capitals have a russian born player on their team that has gotten off to a great start, what if I told you his name is not Alex Ovechkin?

It’s Evgeny Kuznetzov and you better remember that name, he is the future of this Washington team. He was named the NHL’s first star of the week.

Anaheim Ducks

Aside from the goalie drama, there was no real effort from the Ducks at either end of the ice. They again seemed confused on what the game plan was.

Corey Perry had some really nice opportunities and just missed a few of them, but overall the Ducks failed to generate good scoring chances for 60 minutes.

This poor performance carried over to Saturday’s game in Minnesota. The Ducks were shutout once again after beating the Wild 4-1 just six days earlier.

The Ducks stars did not show up in this one, Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler were nowhere to be found.

Freddie Andersen once again did just about everything he could have done to keep the game close. He made a number of ridiculous saves and without him, the score would have likely been 5-0 or 6-0.

The week started with three steps forward and ended with 10 steps backwards, the Ducks have a lot of soul searching to do with three tough road games coming up this week.

Whose Hot For The Anaheim Ducks

Well, I could stick it to the Ducks and leave this section of the article blank this week but I won’t do that, not yet at least. Let’s find a bright spot in a dark dark week.

Hampus Lindholm.

Lindholm is leading the Ducks in ice time and is showing that he is now the Ducks clear number one blue-liner. He’s been good at both ends of the ice and the statistics show that he is turning into a really sound defensive minded defensemen.

He played over 23 minutes in the 5-1 loss to Nashville, leading the Ducks in ice time again, and yet he finished with a -1 rating. In a game where the Ducks were completely embarrassed, their number one defensemen finished with a -1 rating, he needs even more minutes than he is already getting.

His defensive partner Kevin Bieksa finished with a -4 rating, just let that sink in.

Another interesting stat is that Hampus Lindholm’s plus minus differential per 60 minutes thus far is -0.46. That ranks him 4th on the Ducks and he sits behind only Mike Santorelli, Korbinian Holzer and Josh Manson, three guys who have not played regularly this season.

Whose Not Hot For The Anaheim Ducks

Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler.

The Ducks big three have gone a-wall. They are nowhere to be found and they are not leading this team out of the rut.

Without strong performances from the leaders, the rest of the Ducks team will continue to struggle. The effort must change and it starts with the big three who need to get angry and play with a lot more passion and aggression.

It’s time for Getlzaf and Perry to start taking the criticism personally.

San Diego Gulls Prospect Update

The Gulls had another good week. They started out with a win on Wednesday night in San Jose, beating the Barracuda 3-2 in a shootout.

Nic Kerdiles scored his first goal of the season while Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore continue their strong offensive play on the blue-line, each picked up and assist in the game.

The Gulls again beat the Barracuda on Friday night by a score of 3-0. The Gulls outshot the Barracuda 34-23.

More from Ducks News

The Ducks will have their first back to back on Tuesday night when the play the Dallas Stars who have gotten off to a really good start. It will be interesting to see what Boudreau does with his goaltenders in this one, could Andersen play two in a row?

The road trip comes to a close on Thursday night when the Ducks take on the ailing St. Louis Blues. Injuries have hit the Blues hard but they have a lot of young talented guys who have stepped up and played well to begin the season.

The Ducks will get another shot at the Nashville Predators on Sunday, only this time the game will occur at Honda Center. This is going to be a big measuring stick as the Ducks will look to prove that the 5-1 loss in Nashville was a fluke.

Power Rankings

1. Montreal Canadiens

2. Nashville Predators

3. Washington Capitals

4. Dallas Stars

5. Chicago Blackhawks

6. Minnesota Wild

7. New York Rangers

8. St. Louis Blues

9. New York Islanders

10. Winnipeg Jets

Final Thoughts

Bruce Boudreau has two, possibly three games to turn this thing around. If the Ducks play poorly tonight in Chicago and Tuesday in Dallas, then I think he gets canned Wednesday morning. If they play a little better, then I think general manager Bob Murray reevaluates after the road trip ends Thursday night.

A lot of talk has been made over potential coaching candidates to replace Boudreau. The fact of the matter is that nobody noteworthy is available. If a change does occur it will likely be an in house change. Right now I think that Ducks assistant coach Trent Yawney is the frontrunner if former Ducks coach Randy Carlyle is not a candidate. Assistant coach Paul Maclean is another option, but Yawney seems to be a guy that is making noise as the potential replacement if a change is made.

A lot of young defensemen are getting contract extensions done with their clubs. Mattias Ekholm of the Predators is the latest young blue-liner to get a new deal. He signed a six year $22.5 million dollar deal, giving him a cap hit of $3.75 million. You have to wonder how long Murray is going to wait until he signs Lindholm to an extension. Clearly Murray has more pressing issues at hand, but the longer he waits, the more he may have to pay Lindholm. A four to six year deal paying Hampus $5 or $5.5 million annually is in order.

Ducks director of player personnel Rick Paterson was spotted at a few Buffalo Sabres games in the past week while Bob Murray was doing some scouting for team Canada. Paterson’s presence at those games could be tied to Murray’s scouting trip, but it could also be a sign that the Ducks are weighing out potential trade options.

Hampus Lindholm needs to be given more responsibility. As I pointed out earlier he played over 23 minutes against Nashville and finished with a -1 rating in a 5-1 loss. He is ready for a bigger role that should have him playing 25 or 26 minutes a night. You have to wonder if he is in need of a different defensive partner. I don’t think Kevin Bieksa will be able to maintain 25 minutes a night through the entire season. Bieksa was also a -4 in the Nashville game.

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

Next: Anaheim Ducks Fate Now Lies In The Hands Of Bob Murray

Anaheim Ducks Week 3 Edition Of Monday Mornin’ On The Pond

Anaheim Ducks

More from Pucks of a Feather

Schedule