They Anaheim Ducks play the first game of four-game road trip tonight in Calgary and if they stick with the theme of the season - they will probably lose.

The Ducks have been alternating three-game win streaks and three-game losing streaks since the start of this month. It has to end sometime. My gut feeling is that streak-streak ends tonight and they skate away with the two points.

Calgary has fallen out of the playoff race, thanks to their own three-game losing streak and a 3-6-1 stretch over the last 10 games. The Ducks are six full points ahead of them in the standings with a game in hand.

Anaheim can put a fork in the Flames playoff chances with a good effort tonight. The Ducks went 3-1-0 in their latest homestand, winning the last three by outscoring their opponent 11-4.

The Ducks are 22-10-5 at Honda Center and 15-14-7 away. This is the last big road trip of the season. Four of their final five games of the season are at home.

What to watch for:

- Calgary won two of the first three meetings in regulation and they stole points for Anaheim in the last meeting, thanks to a last second goal by Dougie Hamilton.

- Captain Ryan Getzlaf is on some run. He has 19 points (4g 15a) in his last 12 games and four multi-point games in the last eight.

- The Ducks power play is getting better as the season winds don. They are 7 for 32 (21.8%) over the last 14 games. Despite the resurgence they still rank 22nd in the last at 19.9%. Anaheim is 1 for 14 in the three game vs. Calgary this season.

- The Ducks have leagues second best save percentage at .922. Ryan Miller at .926 has a slight edge over John Gibson at .925. Over the last nine games, Anaheim has allowed more than two goals three times. They are 1-2-0 in those three games.

- Brandon Montour has regained that goal scoring touch. He has three goals in the last three games since snapping that 50 game goalless drought.

- The Ducks hold down the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, but they can jump back into third in the Pacific with a win tonight. L.A. lost in OT to the Jets on Tuesday night opening the door for Anaheim to leapfrog them again.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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