Pucks of a Feather
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Anaheim Ducks: October Player Grades, Forwards Part 1

By Chris Bushell

SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 03: Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks warms up before their game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on October 3, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - OCTOBER 03: Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks warms up before their game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on October 3, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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Ryan Getzlaf: (A)

CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 23: Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (15) looks on in the 3rd period of game action during an NHL game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Anaheim Ducks on October 23, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 23: Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (15) looks on in the 3rd period of game action during an NHL game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Anaheim Ducks on October 23, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Ryan Getzlaf missed five games due to a groin injury early in the season but has come back with a vengeance. Getzlaf had 8 points in the month of October including a three-game point streak in which two of them were multi-point efforts. If you count the first game of November against the Rangers it’s a 4 game point streak where 3 of 4 were multi-point efforts from the Captain. Getzlaf looks noticeably agitated and fed up on the ice. I don’t mean in a bad way as he wants out of Anaheim but in a way that he is fed up losing and how the team has looked. And who could blame him, the Ducks who looked like gang-busters to start the year suddenly look like a disjointed and disinterested group. If they have any hope of turning it around Getzlaf will lead the charge, on the ice and in the locker room.

He is excelling on both ends of the spectrum. It can be assumed he at least had a hand in the players-only meeting the other day and he is leading by example on the ice. Getzlaf is tied for the team lead in points, second on the team in power-play points, 57% on the face-off dots, and has been imposing his will on the opposition especially as of late. Getzlaf has been the emotional and statistical center for the Ducks for some time now. Typically as he goes the Ducks go. Hopefully, that remains the same because it’s clear he isn’t getting any younger and you wonder if he is realizing his Stanley Cup window is closing.

Getzlaf will be the pivot that gets this Ducks turnaround going. He is doing all he can right now, he just needs his teammates to follow suit.

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