The Anaheim Ducks struggles at home continued with another shutout loss. This time it was the Chicago Blackhawks blanking the home team 2-0 in a battle of the NHL's best. Anaheim has lost three straight at Honda Center and has been shutout in two of them.
The Ducks are now losers in five of seven on home ice. Although with all the Hawks fans in attendance you might not have known this was supposed to be a home game for Anaheim.
Unlike some of their most recent losses, the Ducks came ready to play. They matched the Hawks intensity early on and with a faster lineup they quickly jumped ahead....in the shot column. At the end of one period with game knotted at zero, Anaheim held a 15-9 shot advantage.
Chicago goalie, Corey Crawford was the difference for the Hawks in the period. That and the fact that Anaheim failed to convert on an extended five on three power play that resulted in seven Anaheim shots, but produced no goals.
Thebgame evened out from the first periodmon and just 39 seconds into the second period the Hawks scored and that was all she wrote. Crawford made 29 saves in the shutout and Jonas Hiller took the loss....again. Since his 14 game win streak was swapped, Hiller has lost five of six starts and was pulled in one of them.
Despite the result, the Ducks played a much better in this game. Head coach Bruce Boudreau sat Bryan Allen and Jakob Silvferberg for the speedier Emerson Etem, Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm and it nearly paid off. Etem and equally speedy linemate Andrew Cogliano had several excellent scoring opportunities but couldn't squeeze one past Crawford.
Boudreau had the team ready to play and he made the right adjustments...the team is just struggling. Simple as that. When you struggle the bounces go the other way. The post are bigger and the net is smaller. Their luck will change....soon.
I fully believe that the Ducks power play failures cost them dearly and that's where he loss of Nick Bonino really hurts. Anaheim is 0 for 7 with the man advantage since Bonino went down with a day-to-injury a couple of games ago. Nick is great in front of the net and collected six of 16 goals on the power play. It's not like the Ducks are great with the man advantage to begin with and his loss hurts them even further. At a 17.9%, Anaheims power play ranks among the bottom half of the league.
Thankfully Bonino will be back after the break along with Viktor Fasth. Getting healthy is never a bad thing.
One game left until the Olympic break and it's on the road in Nashville. Perhaps some time of the road with due the trick and the Ducks can head into the upcoming three week break on a high note.
We shall see.
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The Ducks believe they are Stanley Cup contenders and it appears they are willing to do what it takes to make sure they have the best chance to lift that shiny cup again.
The rumor mill is heating up and it sounds like Ducks GM Bob Murray is busy working the phones. A couple of weeks ago I would have bet the house on a quiet trade deadline for the Ducks. I think losing four of five and six of ten changes all that.
Whether its a splashy rental like Thomas Vanek, some additional help up the middle or just some additional depth on the blue line, I think Anaheim will do what it takes to get this team and this city it's second Stanely Cup Championship.
Stay tuned....
Thanks for reading and pray for Sochi.