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The Anaheim Ducks lost three straight games this week, falling to a 2-3-1 record.
After picking up an overtime win over the Calgary Flames on Monday, the Ducks fell 6-5 to the Edmonton Oilers the following night. After that, they lost 5-1 to the Winnipeg Jets, then lost 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild in overtime last night.
Despite the score being close against the Oilers, the Ducks didn’t have a great game and while they scored five goals, most of their goals were rush-based, rather than the result of actual sustained pressure. The Ducks can’t be a team that tries to outscore their opponent and doing it against the best player in hockey usually isn’t going to lead to a good outcome. It wasn’t a bad effort, but they also weren’t the better team.
That said, they did have a really strong first 40 minutes against the Jets, leading in shots 27-19 heading into the final frame. Even the third period was a decent one for Anaheim, but they surrendered an early power play goal and couldn’t climb back. Overall though, it was a strong outing where they probably deserved a better fate.
Last night, however, the Ducks were probably a bit lucky to get to overtime, despite leading at two different points. They did a good job creating traffic at the front of the net and throwing pucks on goal, but didn’t necessarily have a ton of great chances.
Surprisingly, the Ducks actually haven’t had issues finding the back of the net early on this season. That said, they’re averaging just 29.5 shots per game so far, which ranks 21st in the league, while averaging 36.7 shots against per game, the third-highest in the league.
Those stats don’t point towards the Ducks being an overly competitive team and also reinforce the idea that going forward, if Anaheim’s goaltending isn’t strong, they probably don’t have much of a chance to win. That said, the season should largely be focused on development anyways, and it’s been fun seeing the younger players on the team continue to take on larger roles.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Ducks sign Ben Hutton to PTO
Ducks reveal opening night roster
Where will the Ducks finish within the Pacific Division?
Ducks' goaltending keeping the team competitive early on
Max Jones to have surgery, expected to be out 4-6 months 
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
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