I guess I need to get my mindset back to the days of classic Ducks hockey like the 2003 Cup run where teams pummel the Ducks with shots but the goalie stands on his head and the few seconds they get in the opposing team's zone they score and win the game.
I watched their loss to Dallas, their win against the Flames and saw parts of the game tonight against the Jets in between the Pens/Devil game and they just seem unable to force the play against opponents and are always reacting. It didn't help that Getzlaf was out of the line-up though it goes to show how dependent the team seems to be on every player being in their normal position in the line-up. Lose one guy in any of the top three lines and it just seems to ruin the effectiveness of the line and ripples down depending on which line it is.
The Ducks continue to be blessed in goal and even though I liked Andersson more, Gibson has become the goalie Brodreau praised and talked about him becoming. At the same time, Ryan Miller has proven to be a really good pick-up and has been playing some of his best hockey in years so if one goes down, the other can take over the job without fear of the team collapsing from a weak goalie in net. It's one of the reasons the Penguins have been so dominant the last couple playoff runs. Having Murray and Fluery kept the position solid no matter which one you put in net.
Their top three lines are pretty good as well. They might not be as dominant as other top lines as some other teams but they're definitely top half of the league, at least. The problem is that the lines aren't producing that well. Rakall's been huge for them this year and I was surprised about the Vatanen for Henrique trade but I'm glad they made it because Henrique has been another bright spot. Frankly, I think the third line of Henrique, Kase and Ritchie may be my favorite line of the Ducks right now. I don't know if it is a combination of age and injuries keeping player back this year from previous years but they are goal starved. There are 10 teams that have currently scored less goals than the Ducks this year and all those teams are out of a playoff spot. The Ducks are the lowest goal scoring team out of all the teams currently qualifying for the playoffs. That's probably also why their powerplay ranks so low in the game. And as for the fourth line, I just hope those players get their shifts over as quickly as possible without hurting the team. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on Derek Grant as he seems to be the only decent part of that fourth line but this is clearly a 3 line team in the playoffs.
On the flip side, only 5 other teams have allowed less goals than the Ducks. Three of those are Nashville, Winnipeg and Boston. The other two are, surprisingly, LA and St. Louis. I'd say it is pretty much because of the defensive efforts of the Ducks that they are still in the playoff hunt and I'm still expecting they will make it in for the playoffs again this year. I like the top four defensemen the Ducks have of Fowler, Manson, Lindholm and Montour. It really sucks how Vegas was able to take Theodore in the draft though. I can't believe Beauchemin is back with this team and still playing for them. Yet, I kind of prefer him playing over Bieksa. I can't really comment on Pettersson too much since he's new to me but I have noticed him in the games I watched and for good stuff on his part so I'm kind of positive on him but he's still unproven. So, as far as defense goes, it's a pretty strong top 4 and so-so bottom defensive pairing. Unfortunately in playoffs, a poor third defensive pairing can sink a team. I've watched it happened to the Capitals and Sharks when they faced the Penguins in the 2015 cup run.
So, they're a still good team despite some of the turnover from the last few years. They've won the Pacific Division, what, five years in a row now up to this point? That talent is still there and as San Jose proved with their cup run that even as some of the core get older there's still an opportunity for this group to make a run like that with a mix of old and new. I do think there is a slight lack of depth near the bottom of this team in the fourth line and third defensive pairing but if the forwards can all start producing with better regularity while maintaining the defensive ability so far then they could be back in consideration as one of the top teams in the league and a cup contender. I still feel this team has the make-up to win the Pacific and get it to the Western Conference Final again. What happens after that might depend on who they face. Game 6 against Nashville last year was a frustrating game as they should have won that and taken them to a Game 7 at least. In my mind, if they could match-up like that last year against Nashville then they aren't that overmatched in a series against them even if Nashville has gotten a bit stronger than last year even. The Ducks younger guys got to go through 3 playoff rounds so they also got a lot of playoff experience. If they can get back to that third round that's just going to keep helping this team for the future in playoff competition.
Of all the points you listed, stay out of the penalty box is, for me, the biggest thing they need to learn and do. It is the team's kryptonite in the playoffs. I think the problem goes back to after the lock-out and when they added Chris Pronger. They got the reputation as the Big Bad Ducks for awhile because they were a hard-hitting team and prone to taking a lot of penalties. It didn't matter much on their way to a cup because the team was stacked and they had Pronger and Scott Niedermayer on defense (along with Beauchemin in his prime) so they could kill a lot of penalties and get away with them. (Although I think it is that very thing which cost them an early round exit in 2007 when they still had a stacked enough team to go much further than that.) It seems that Big Bad Duck attitude has still stuck around with the team and sometimes they get too caught up in trying to hit and retaliate against the opposition instead of just playing through it and it costs them a few games which then becomes the series. I look at 2015 as the most recent example of this. The first two games, the Ducks were just caught up in trying muscle around the Predators and went to the box repeatedly dropping the first two games of the series. They finally started playing with discipline after that and almost came back but ended up falling in Game 7 for a first round exit and the end of Brudreau's coaching tenure. The fact that they won 3 of the next 4 always irked me because it was a sign to me that they should have won that series and could have if they had played a whole lot smarter in the first two games instead of getting lost in intimidation games against the Preds. At least, the Pens won the Cup that year so it removed the sting but it was still another wasted season when that Duck team had so much going for it.
Anyways, to your point about Discord, it's an interesting idea. Don't know how much I'd have to chat about during a game but why wait until the Kings? All games are kind of Mega for the Ducks right now. Why not try it this Sunday with one of my favorite matches, Ducks vs Edmonton?
Topic: Hockey Discussion: The Leafs Would Like To Borrow Taylor Hall's Horseshoe (Read 185475 times)
