For the first time this season, the surprising Anaheim Ducks get their first taste of adversity. Anaheim's lost two games in a row and a tough schedule ahead.

On Sunday night, the Ducks squandered an opportunity to go 5-0 at home to the season with a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames. It was only the 10th regulation loss to the Flames at the Honda Center in franchise history.

The game was wrought with missed opportunities, hit posts and more power-play struggles. Anaheim had plenty of chances to at least force overtime in this one, but the breaks went the other way.

Instead, the Ducks hit the road for four games with stops in Nashville, Dallas, Colorado, and Vegas. That's a fairly formidable lineup of games for a an early-season road trip.

Let's be honest with ourselves - this is a critical junction for this group and it didn't get off to a great start.

The Predators skated to a 6-1 victory. The score is scarier than the game was. Nashville benefited heavily from the outstanding goaltending of Pekke Rinne. The veteran goalie was brilliant in stopping 30-shots and thwarting Anaheim on countless opportunities.

Ten games into the season, the Ducks are on their first two-game losing streak with the meat of this road trip breathing down their necks. How Anaheim responds over the next few games should tell us if this team really has what it takes to be in the playoff conversation or if they'll simply regress back to the means.

Additionally, this is a good test for Dallas Eakins and his staff as well. Eakins' struggles in Edmonton were well chronicled. After the Oilers fired him, Eakins acknowledged he didn't do a good enough job of stressing basic fundamentals, instead, focusing more on a complex defensive system that his players couldn't execute properly. He seems to have rectified that with the Ducks - at least in the early going.

Anaheim is playing an all-around solid defensive game and doing many of the little things his teams in Edmonton did not. Strong fundamentals and strong defense are almost always calling cards of successful road teams. That's why I think the Ducks can handle any adversity thrown their way, especially on this trip.

The picture will become clearer soon enough.

The Stars are playing better, led by the return of an old friend in Corey Perry. I don't think I need to stress how good both the Avalanche and Golden Knights are. They are two of the games' elite teams. A strong showing from Anaheim says more about the Ducks resurgence than it does about those teams. It should be an interesting week.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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