| Brian Reynolds. 3rd April, 2009 - 5:08 pm
 With eight wins in their past nine contests, the Anaheim Ducks appear ready for the postseason.
The Ducks (40-32-6) have surged into the current seventh seed of the Western Conference standings, a scenario that seemed highly unlikely just two weeks ago.
At that time the Ducks appeared to be all but out of the race. They had struggled mightily after trading Chris Kunitz to Pittsburgh, winning just twice in seven games. Kunitz was the Ducks biggest physical presence, leading the team with 148 hits. He was an up and coming star for the team, who had set career highs in 2007 with 25 goals and 60 points when Anaheim won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The Ducks have looked elsewhere for leadership. During their impressive streak, wingers Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry have led them. Ryan has five goals and six assists since March 18th. While Corey Perry has netted six along with a game-winning shootout goal in Thursday’s 6-5 win in Vancouver.
Goalie Jonas Hiller has been hot as well. Hiller has not lost a game since a 1-0 defeat against San Jose on March 15th (six straight wins). He has an overall GAA of 2.31, including a .92 save percentage. His recent play will most likely give him the edge over Jean-Sebastien Giguere to start for the club if they indeed make the playoffs. However, Giguere is a proven star under the biggest lights, so the Ducks will definitely have options.
Despite being the league’s best team over the last couple of weeks, Anaheim still has their work cut out for them in order to clinch a playoff berth. Currently, the Western Conference playoff race looks like this:
Columbus – 88 pts; 5 games left
Anaheim – 86 pts; 4 games left
St. Louis – 85 pts; 4 games left
Nashville – 84 pts; 5 games left
Anaheim does control their own destiny, but their remaining four games are no cakewalk. They will face rival San Jose in a home/away back-to-back on April 4th and April 5th. Dallas will come to town on April 10th and then the Ducks will conclude their regular season in Phoenix the following night.
Nashville’s remaining schedule is no cinch either. They will play at Chicago, Columbus, Chicago, at Detroit, at Minnesota. If they finish the season with the same number of points as Anaheim, the tiebreaker will focus on total wins (Anaheim currently leading 40-38). If they tie in wins, the tiebreaker will then focus on heads-up records (Nashville wins 6 pts to 5 pts).
So the final week of the regular season will definitely be entertaining. If the Ducks do get in, don’t sleep on them. They have been in the postseason the past three seasons, so at the very least they are experienced.
If the season ended today, Anaheim (seventh seed) would face-off against the defending champion Detroit Red Wings (second seed). While Anaheim would be a heavy underdog, I wouldn’t bet against Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger and a team that is playing their best hockey of the season.
Does this potential playoff matchup sound familiar? Maybe, a little too familiar? Well, there is good reason. Think back to 2003. The Ducks were a seven seed and had a tough first-round matchup with the defending champion Red Wings. What happened? The Ducks swept.
- Brian Reynolds is a contributing writer from Emory University and can be reached at Brian.matthew.reynolds@gmail.com |
