The Anaheim Ducks return to their barn tonight with two points on their mind. They begin a four-game home stand vs. the St. Louis Blues following a brief, albeit ill-fated, two-game road trip.
The third place Ducks lost both games and could only muster up three goals total while doing so. It was a good lesson for a team that had been feeling pretty good about themselves. But, losses to the West's best in Nashville and fellow playoff hopeful in Dallas means Anaheim still has a lot of work to do. Nothing comes easy in the NHL and nothing has come easy for the Ducks this season.
Thankfully both the Sharks and Kings have stumbled a bit and the Ducks remain in a playoff spot.
The Blues are hanging onto their slim playoff aspirations, despite losing nine of the last 11 games (2-7-2), they only trail the second Wild Card spot by three points. St. Louis is going to play desperate and are coming off of a 7-2 thumping of the Kings over the weekend. The Ducks want to shuttle any good feelings quickly and do everything in their power to prevent themselves from losing three games in a row.
The Ducks need to match St. Louis's intensity in the opening period and the first goal is going to be huge in this one. The Blues are 29-6-2 when they score first and just 7-21-3 when they don't.
Anaheim did not play poorly in the last two games. Instead they failed to play a full 20 minutes and they fell short on the special teams. It's the same story with this team - dominate one period and get dominated the next. They allowed two third period power play goals in Dallas after not allowing a PPG in the previous ten games. And a shorty did them in vs. Nashville.
What to watch for:
- Can Rickard Rakell stay hot? Ricky was held off the score sheet in Dallas, but he's been nearly unstoppable of late. The 24-year-old has back-to-back 30 goals seasons thanks to his current surge of eight goals in his last six games.
- Ryan Getzlaf leads the lead in assists per game average and it's easy to see why. The captain has been on top of his passing game lately. If you are open, he is going to find you. If you are not open, he is going to find you. Every time he touches the puck it feels like something good is going to happen. Getz has 35 points (9g 26a) in 38 career games vs. the Blues. I expect more of the same tonight.
- Adam Henrique has 57 career points in March - more than any other month of the hockey season. He's already three points in five games this month and I can see him getting hot again. He's had a good run in Anaheim and they need him to keep it going.
- The Ducks are one point out of second place in the Pacific and one point out of a playoff spot. If they lose in regulation tonight and the Kings win - they will fall out of the top three and into a tie for the last wild card with Colorado.
Thanks for reading, Steve