| Scott Essman. 11th February, 2008 - 4:37 pm
 After six straight winless games from January 20 through February 2, the Anaheim Ducks are back on track after a three-game sweep in the Tri-State Area, beating the New York Islanders and Rangers, then shutting down New Jersey. In the three games, the Ducks gave up a total of two goals, a testament to their reinvigorated defense with Scott Niedermayer back on the team.
Nonetheless, the Ducks have surely gotten an enthusiasm boost by the appearance this week of another returning player in Teemu Selanne. Like Niedermayer, Selanne had retired after the Stanley Cup-winning 2006-2007 season, calling it a career at 36. However, like his teammate, Selanne thought to give it one more try this season albeit starting after half the year had expired.
Now, following the shutout on Long Island and back-to-back wins against the Rangers and Devils, in which the Ducks only gave up one goal in each win, Anaheim stands at 30-22-7 with 67 points, only four points behind Dallas in NHL’s Pacific Division. Undoubtedly, the combination of their two 2007 playoff stars being back on the team has given all of the Ducks a lift.
Of course, the Ducks still have two games left on this particularly challenging road trip: on Sunday, February 10 in Detroit and on Tuesday, February 12 in Colorado. Should the Ducks prevail or tie those games, it will have been a complete turnaround in their play since mid-January.
More importantly, the remaining six games in February are back in Anaheim where the team should rack up at least four wins. Their first game at home, on Friday, February 15, is against Dallas. This is the Ducks' chance to avenge a particularly lackluster loss at Dallas on January 20, which notably started their six-game winless streak. In their last meeting in Anaheim on January 15, the Ducks won 4-2. Certainly, with the defense and goaltending ranking superbly of late and with the addition of Selanne, the Ducks should be in a good position after the homestand, heading into the last month of the regular season. |
