The Anaheim Ducks have flown off course and are in peril of being shot down.
The Ducks are now 2-4-1 in their last seven games as a result of their 4-1 loss on home ice to the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
The Ducks have not won consecutive games since January 17-19.
On Friday night, Anaheim collapsed gave up three goals in a span of less than six minutes in the second period. It was the first home game for the Ducks following a disappointing 2-3-1 Eastern roadie road trip.
Josh Manson got his milk money stolen by a 45 year old Jaromir Jagr in broad daylight.
Stanley Cup contending teams don't make these types of mistakes in their own zone. Gaffes like Manson's on Jagr have been happening with regularity to the Ducks during their monthly long malaise.
"We could've made a comeback and gotten some points," said Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano, who scored a shorthanded goal. "The goals they scored were very preventable. We had some good chances and zone time, but the turnovers are the difference right now. If we want to be a good team as we start the stretch run, we need to limit them because those are the difference."
The week ahead will not be an easy go with four games on the schedule. The Ducks play The LA Kings twice, the Arizona Desert Dogs and the Boston Bruins.
Then, the Ducks will sit for their bye week which happens to coincide with the NHL trade deadline.
Bob Murray has been trying to add a top six forward since last summer. He and his scouts have been window shopping for the elusive top six forward for months.
Backed into a corner and desperate, Bob Murray will finally have to move one of his defensemen for a legit, well-known NHL scoring power forward who can play the heavy, fast, north style of Randy Carlyle.
"We turned the puck over way too many times," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We fed their offense with our inability to execute with the puck. They turned the game in their favor with us gifting the puck to them."
I will not be surprised when Bob Murray trades one of Shea Theodore or Brandon Montour in exchange for a top six forward. Murray has the organizational depth to deal a star to be defenseman now for a scoring forward who won't crumble under the pressure and anxiety of when the going gets tough.
Puck management has been a fatal flaw of the Ducks in 2017. They commit far too many scoring chances against their own goalie as a result of blunders and turnovers.
While the Ducks have been struggling to earn points for the past couple of weeks, several of their Western Conference counterparts have been red hot.
Whatever cushion in points the Ducks enjoyed is now gone. Minnesota leads the West with 82 points. The Wild are 7-2-1 in their past ten games. Chicago (75 points) is in second place in the West and are 7-3 in their last ten games. San Jose (74 points), like Anaheim have been struggling to win games and find themselves 4-2-4 in their last 10 games. Fourth place Edmonton (70 points) is 6-4 in their last 10 contests. The Ducks (70 points) are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games with surging St. Louis on their heels. The Blues (67 points) are on fire since firing Ken Hitchcock. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games are are about to leap frog the Ducks.
Inside the Pacific Division race, the Edmonton Oilers have caught and are now tied with the Ducks. The Oilers are finding ways to gather points while the Ducks are leaving money on the table. Edmonton has it's sights set on first place and they only need to earn four more points on the sleepy Sharks to achieve their goal.
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Evander Kane is still smoldering hot. Kane has been the NHL's most prolific goal scorer since December 1. Kane has scored each of his 19 goals this season in his last 34 games, including a team-high 18 even-strength goals.
Since December 1, Kane is tied for second among all NHL players in goals (19), leads the NHL in even-strength goals (18) and ranks second in shots on goal (134).
There will be multiple NHL teams in the press box today to scout Kane and some guy called Kevin Shattenkirk.
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The suddenly surging St. Louis Blues are in Buffalo for a 1 pm matinee today.
The Sabres find themselves just six points behind Ottawa, four points behind Boston, and three points behind Toronto in the Atlantic Division standings.
Beating the Blues today and the Blackhawks tomorrow night would give the Sabres a positive send off to their NHL mandated bye week which begins Monday and lasts til next Friday. Buffalo will resume it's season schedule next Saturday night in Denver where they will play the tanking Avalanche, whom they shutout 2-0 on Thurday night in Buffalo.
This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Blues this season.
Last meeting: St. Louis defeated Buffalo 4-1 in St. Louis on November 15.
The Sabres are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Blues, 1-9-0 at home.
Today’s game is the seventh of eight afternoon games (3 p.m. ET or earlier) for the Sabres this season. Buffalo is 4-2-0 in the first six and was 6-3-2 in 11 afternoon games last season.
The Sabres are looking to snap a nine-game winless streak (0-8-1) against the Blues that includes a four-game losing streak at home. Their last win against the Blues was a 5-3 victory in St. Louis on December 27, 2009.
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Ryan O’Reilly has 19 points (5G, 14A) in his last 21 games.
Jack Eichel has scored 16 points (5G, 11A) in his last 16 games, including six multi-point outings. The Sabres are 10-0-0 this season (and 19-3-0 in his career) when Eichel scores at least two points.
Evander Kane has 12 points (7G, 5A) in his last 12 games. 18 of Kane's 19 goals this season have come at even strength.
Sam Reinhart has six points (2G, 4A) in his last six games.
Rasmus Ristolainen has a point in six of his last eight games (1G, 5A).
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Ryan O’Reilly has 17 points (5G 12A) in his last 15 home games.
Sam Reinhart has 12 points (4G, 8A) in his last 12 home games.
Jack Eichel has 17 points (7G, 10A) in 18 home games this season, including six multi-point outings.
Rasmus Ristolainen (1G, 4A) enters today’s game on a five-game home point streak.
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Today is the Sabres’ fifth game in a stretch of eight straight home games against the Western Conference.
Buffalo is 13-3-3 in its last 19 home games against Western Conference opponents and 11-6-2 in all games against the West this season.
The Sabres are 11-5-3 in their last 19 games against the Central Division, including a 5-1-2 record in home games.
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The Sabres entered play Friday with an NHL leading 23.3% success rate on the power play.
Buffalo has not finished a season ranked in the top five in power play percentage since the 2005-06 season (3rd, 21.2%).
The team’s current power-play percentage would rank as the sixth-best conversion rate in franchise history and the best since the team’s 23.6% mark in 1984-85. It would be the 37th-best season by any team since the league began publishing the stat in 1987-88.
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