Ducks 10 Game Review: Games 51-60

By Thomas Harrington

The playoffs won’t happen this year, but the Anaheim Ducks have been playing better hockey of late, led by a mix of veteran scoring and youthful exuberance. Overall, the Ducks had a record of 4-4-2(excluding the game vs St. Louis).

Best/Worst Forwards

No one player really ran away with the scoring lead over the last 10 games, but Adam Henrique was Anaheim’s best forward. He was tied for the team lead in goals with four and points with six. He also led the team with two powerplay goals and was tied for the team lead with two powerplay points. Henrique is known to be a very streaky player, and he’s been finding the back of the net more often than not lately.

Anaheim’s worst forward over the last 10 games was Carter Rowney. He actually had three assists in 10 games, but he was the only Anaheim forward to not score any goals. Rowney hasn’t been terrible, but he hasn’t been as noticeable as he was earlier in the season.

Best/Worst Defenseman

On defense, Hampus Lindholm was the Ducks’ best defenseman over the past 10 games. He had a rough couple of games against Calgary but was his usual defensive self most other nights. He had two assists, one on the powerplay, and led the defense with over 30 shots on goal.

Korbinian Holzer was Anaheim’s worst defenseman over the past 10 games. He played in six games and went scoreless. Similar to Rowney, he wasn’t awful most nights, but there are some nights where he just hasn’t been great.  Last year, he played more consistently after the trade deadline passed; we’ll see if he does the same this year, assuming Anaheim keeps him past the deadline.

In Net

Anaheim had a pretty even split in net over the past 10 games: John Gibson started six games and Ryan Miller started four. Gibson was pulled in the blowout loss to Calgary and had an overall record of 2-3-1. Miller played in back-to-back games and got the win in Buffalo. Overall, he had a record of 2-1-1. It was good to see Miller get more action in net, and I’m hoping that continues through the rest of the season.

Injury News

On the injury front, Anaheim was relatively healthy. Erik Gudbranson and Ondrej Kase were the only two to miss significant time, as both only played in five games. Gudbranson remains on the IR with an upper-body injury but will be re-evaluated and could be back in about a week per Head Coach Dallas Eakins. According to the OC Register’s Elliott Teaford, Kase did practice today with the team for the first since being out with the “flu”.

It was also announced shortly before the game last night against Florida that Cam Fowler would miss the game with a lower-body injury. It’s been a nagging injury according to Eakins. 

Rookies Improve Their Play

Anaheim’s rookies and young players put together what was probably their best 10 game stretch of the season. Sam Steel, Max Jones, and Troy Terry all played in 10 games, while Jacob Larsson played in nine games and Brendan Guhle played in five. Steel scored a goal and four points, Jones had three goals and four points, Terry had a goal and five points, Larsson had a goal and four points, and Guhle scored a goal.

Final Thoughts

A few more things that caught my eye over the last 10 games. Rickard Rakell led the team with five assists, while Ryan Getzlaf, Terry, and Cam Fowler all had four. Fowler and Larsson led the defense with four points each. The defense scored three goals as Michael Del Zotto, Larsson, and Guhle all found the back of the net. Nicolas Deslauriers celebrated his contract extension with a goal against Calgary and had two over the last 10 games after having only one goal during the previous 50 games. Finally, the Ducks had six players record five or more points: Henrique, Getzlaf, Jakob Silfverberg, Derek Grant, Terry, and Rakell.

The bad news is that Anaheim will not make the postseason for the second straight year. The good news is that for the first time this season, the Ducks had a balanced attack. They got contributions from up and down the lineup, and their youth was much more involved than they have been. It was far from a perfect 10 game stretch, but it was among Anaheim’s best this season. Hopefully, they can keep this level of play up going forward, especially from the young players who they hope will carry them for years to come.

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February 20th, 2020