Two Short Keys to Anaheim Ducks Win Over Edmonton
Tonight, the Anaheim Ducks take on the division-leading Edmonton Oilers at home, and it is without a doubt the toughest game of this extended home stand. They will have to come out with their best game tonight if they want to get this win.
The Edmonton Oilers have been a rather surprising team so far this season going 11-5-2 and finally giving Connor McDavid the team he deserves, and they are coming off a big win against New Jersey. The Anaheim Ducks have fallen way back from their initially hot start and are starting to look like the Ducks of last season at 9-7-1. They just lost to two bottom teams in the NHL, so nothing seems to be going right for them lately. In order to snap that streak and upset the Oilers, they will have to accomplish two things, and one of them starts with playing better offensively.
Keeping the Fire Power Hot
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In their last loss, the Anaheim Ducks didn’t score until the second period and didn’t tally any more after that. In the game before that, they started off terribly and came back only to lose in OT. The reoccurring problem so far for this team is that they come out looking dead and bored, and they really need to remedy that to beat this flaming hot Oilers team.
Although the Oilers aren’t a high-scoring team, they can easily hang on to leads thanks to McDavid’s knack for stacking goals on goals. If the Anaheim Ducks don’t start hot, it will be over before it even began. Even if they do enjoy making a nice comeback against Edmonton, this Oilers team is much different from the teams of the past. Whether it is Jakob Silfverberg or Adam Henrique, someone has to finally step up again to lead the offense. But just as important as the offense is the defense finally stepping up.
Bringing Back the Defense
Over their past two games, the Anaheim Ducks have given up seven goals and have only managed to score four. The offense and the defense really need to find a healthy medium to work at to finally score enough and defend enough, nothing is seeming to click now.
It might be tempting to look back to the multiple comeback efforts of the past years against Edmonton, but the defense needs to step up to make sure that this game doesn’t need a comeback bid. It would be nice to see Erik Gudbranson lead the defense to a nice game, but realistically, it needs to be someone and/or anyone who turns the defense on to that clamping down mode.
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In conclusion, it is really as simple as the defense and the offense coming together to heat up. The team hasn’t been at its best during their two-game losing streak, so to upset Edmonton, they will have to come out strong and continue that roll until the end. Nothing flashy, no added statistics, just play hard and play smart. Hopefully, the team can follow that to snap this bad streak.
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