Anaheim Ducks: Time to Hand an “L” to the New York Rangers
By Eddy Jones
The Anaheim Ducks have lost 6 straight following a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. This is the first time the Ducks have lost 6 straight regular season games since October 29th – November 11th in 2011. Today they’re back at Honda Center again and are looking to break the slump and get back in the win column.
Game 14: Anaheim Ducks vs New York Rangers
Season Record: 5-6-2
Location: Honda Center – Anaheim, California
Time: 7:00 p.m. PST
TV: Prime Ticket
Radio: AM 830
Anaheim Ducks Injuries: Corey Perry (Knee), Patrick Eaves (Shoulder), Ondrej Kase (Concussion), Carter Rowney (Upper Body), Nick Ritchie (Upper Body Injury), Maxime Comtois (undisclosed)
Head-2-Head Comparison
NYR ANA
GPG – 2.50 (28th) GPG – 2.38 (29th)
GAA – 3.42 (22nd) GAA – 2.77 (11th)
PP% – 17.95 (20th) PP% – 18.18 (19th)
PK% – 74.40 (23rd) PK% – 79.50 (14th)
CF% – 46.73 (27th) CF% – 41.41 (31st)
SV% – 92.28 (12th) SV% – 95.28 (1st)
New York State of Mind
The Anaheim Ducks have notably struggled to score goals all season. On the back of two straight 2-goal games, Pontus Aberg leads the Ducks with 4 goals. Not necessarily who you’d expect to be leading the team in goal-scoring at this point in the season. The names following that are a mixed bag of regular Top-6 players and fringe NHLers. Adam Henrique, Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg, and Ben Street follow behind with 3 goals each. Coming off a 3-2 loss to the leagues worst defense, Philadelphia’s GAA is ranked 31st (4.00), the Ducks are desperate to find some consistent offense.
The New York Rangers enter tonight dead last in the Metropolitan Division. They too have struggled offensively, ranking 28th in GPG at 2.50. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider currently lead the way with 5 and 6 goals respectively. Outside of Zibanejad, Kreider, and Zuccarello the Rangers offense has been inconsistent. However, they have the potential to break out on any given night with the likes of Pavel Buchnevich, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Ryan Spooner rounding out the Top-6.
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Kevin Shattenkirk has not been the player the Rangers had hoped for when they signed him to a $26.6 million contract back on July 1st, 2017. Through 11 games this season Shattenkirk only has 3 assists. The brightest spots on the Rangers blue-line has been a pair of 23-year olds. Neal Pionk and Tony DeAngelo have both been scratched at different points this season, but have been the most effective point producers from the back-end. DeAngelo has only played in 4 games this year but has two-multi point games giving him 1 goal and 3 assists. Pionk, on the other hand, has played 10 games and leads all Rangers defensemen with 6 points.
King Henrik has been anything but royalty this season for New York. He sports an unfavorable 2.77 GAA and .917 SV% through 10 games. His record isn’t any betting, in which he currently sits at 3-6-1. It’s not all on Lundqvist’s shoulders though, much like the Ducks the Rangers have struggled to prevent shots against. Lundqvist has faced the third most shots of any goaltender at 337. John Gibson, of course, sits atop the ladder, facing 384 shots against.
3 Keys to Ducks Victory
- Those paid to score, need to score
- Make them pay on the Power-play
- Give John Gibson some support
Next. Time To Target One of the Big Fish?. dark
The Ducks had a “closed door” meeting following the Philadelphia game according to The Athletic. They have a chance to get back to .500 tonight and start November off on the right foot. If they can follow those keys to the game we will be lighting the lamp tonight at Honda Center.