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Ducks complete season series with Blues, looking for season sweep

By Redan Lopez

ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 15: Jakob Silfverberg (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 15: Jakob Silfverberg (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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The Anaheim Ducks welcome the visiting St. Louis Blues, another Western Conference opponent that is competing with the Ducks for one of the final Western Conference playoff spots.

Crunch time is upon us. As the NHL season winds down to its last month of games, the Anaheim Ducks need to show they deserve to be in the playoffs. A short, two-game road trip which featured visits to Nashville and Dallas this past Thursday and Friday ended up in major disappointment. The Ducks failed to walk away with any points and improve their standings position.

A slow start in Nashville saw the Ducks fall behind 3-0 after two periods and despite a furious comeback, it was too little too late. The Ducks lost 4 – 2. The next night, a precarious one-goal lead disappeared as the Ducks allowed two power-play goals in the third period to Dallas. The Stars walked away with a narrow victory, 2 – 1.

Playoffs Background

The Ducks enter today’s game sitting third in the Pacific Division at 80 points, 1 point behind the 2nd place San Jose Sharks and 1 point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. The Calgary Flames are behind the Ducks by 2 points and have played one more game.

There are currently eight teams (Ducks, Sharks, Kings, Flames, Blues, Wild, Avalanche, Stars) fighting for five playoff spots in the Western Conference. The eight teams are fighting for the second and thirds seeds in the Pacific, the third seed in the Central and the first and second wild-card spots. Three of these eight teams will not get in.

Conceivably, the Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets will be in the postseason barring late-season meltdowns. Each team has over 90 points, far above those fighting for playoff spots.

The Ducks playoff push must begin now and it starts with a win against the Blues.

Notable Facts and Notes

  • The Ducks have a nine-game point streak at home dating back to Jan 23 (7-0-2, 16 pts. = seven wins, two shootout losses).
  • Ducks’ left winger Rickard Rakell is on a six game point streak (8 goals, 3 assists, 11 pts.).
  • The Blues have lost eight of their past 10 games overall (2-6-2, 2 wins, 6 regulation losses, 2 overtime/shootout losses).
  • Blues’ left winger Jaden Schwartz is getting hot; he has seven points in his last five games (2 goals, 5 assists).
  • Offensively and defensively, the Ducks and Blues are very similar: (Offense: Ducks – 2.74 goals/game, Blues – 2.71 goals/ game, Defense: Ducks – 2.64 goals/game allowed, Blues – 2.65 goals/game allowed).
  • The Ducks have taken the first two games of the season series, both played at Scottrade Center (first game 3 -2, second game 3 – 1). In both games, the Ducks took 3 – 0 leads.

Preview: Anaheim Ducks (34-23-12, 80 pts.) vs. St. Louis Blues (36-27-5, 77 pts.)

After tough losses this past week to Dallas and Nashville, the Ducks shift their attention to a Blues’ team that has struggled in the second half of the season. After leading the Central for much of the first half, the Blues have struggled in several areas of the game. The most glaring is providing consistent goal support to goalies Jake Allen and Carter Hutton.

The Blues, however, did break out of a scoring slump on Saturday and racked up seven goals in a 7-2 victory at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Kings.

Following the theme of goal support, the Ducks need to ramp up goal scoring again to support John Gibson and Ryan Miller. After scoring 19 goals in their previous four home games, the Ducks only managed three goals against Nashville and Dallas combined. What’s more alarming is that the scoring came only from the first line trio of Getzlaf, Rakell, and Perry.

The Blues and Ducks are both physical teams. There will definitely be lots of pushing, hitting, and battling for possession and positioning. The Ducks will need to ensure that they battle harder than the Blues and get in the right spots to score goals and play sound defense.

While the Blues may not be thought as formidable as earlier in the season, the Ducks need to make sure their compete level is high and treat this game as a playoff game.

Anaheim Ducks’ Keys to the Game

Limit the Blues’ speed into the defense zone

When the Blues do enter into the Ducks d-zone, the Ducks must challenge them off the puck. If the Blues are allowed to enter with speed, it will cause the Ducks to chase around a very mobile Blues’ team. Slowing the Blues down when they do enter will make it tougher for them to establish an offense presence and prevent their defensemen from setting up their forwards.

Keep the Blues’ first line off the scoresheet

The Blues have a lethal trio of Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Jaden Schwartz that can score in bunches. While they have not been scoring at a clip as high as earlier in the season, they are still very dangerous when given time and space. Each of the trio have all scored 20 or more goals this season.

It is imperative the Ducks limit their offensive chances and make them play defense instead. If the Ducks are able to keep them off the scoresheet, I like their chances of winning.

Keep the game simple

Basically, the Ducks need to get shots to the net and provide traffic in front of Allen. The Ducks need to look for rebounds and sweep them in, much like they did in their first two meetings. He has been shaky in the second half of the season. The Ducks must pressure and test Allen with all the shots they can generate. Don’t overpass and look for the perfect play.

Next: How to keep Julius Randle and two superstars

Prediction: The Ducks’ first line, second, and third lines will all chip in goals. Red-hot play will continue at Honda Center and the Ducks will sweep the season series with the Blues. They will show they will want the game more, be tenacious defensively, and limit the Blues’ scoring chances – Anaheim Ducks win 3-1. 

Projected Lineups – Anaheim Ducks

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Forwards 

Rickard Rakell – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie – Adam Henrique – Ondrej Kase

Jason Chimera – Derek Grant – Chris Kelly

Defensemen

Cam Fowler – Brandon Montour

Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson

Marcus Pettersson – Kevin Bieksa

Goalies 

John Gibson

Ryan Miller

Projected Lineups – Blues

Forwards

Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Vladimir Taraensko

Alex Steen – Kyle Brodziak – Patrik Berglund

Tage Thompson – Vladimir Sobotka – Dmitry Jaskin

Nikita Soshnikov – Ivan Barbashev – Chris Thorburn

Defensemen

Carl Gunnarsson – Alex Pietrangelo

Colton Parayko – Vince Dunn

Jordan Schmaltz – Robert Bortuzzo

Goalies

Jake Allen

Carter Hutton

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