5 Takeaways: How the Ducks Competed with a Contender
Alex Gallardo - Associated Press
Three out of four points against the Colorado Avalanche? What kind of unrealistic, backwards simulation are we living in?
A series many Ducks fans had essentially written off surprised everyone this weekend as they picked up a point on Friday and a win on Sunday against one of the consensus top Stanley Cup contenders. Sometimes, dreams do come true.
These are five things about the series I want to highlight.
1. Underlying Numbers
Outside of a few good stretches, the Ducks didn’t carry play much during Sunday’s game. Colorado pretty handily dominated possession, shot attempts, and shot quality with the Ducks having a 39.08 CF% and a slightly more respectable 45.88 xGF% according to Evolving Hockey.
However, Friday’s game was a different story. A 44.19 CF% may not look great, but the Ducks had a very good game as far as generating dangerous chances go with a 56.88% share of the expected goals. That is outstanding for this team considering their opponents and their expectations.
Colorado hasn’t exactly been the dominant team many have expected early in the season, but Anaheim putting up that kind of result, despite losing in overtime, is very encouraging. I’m not convinced this will be a regular occurrence, but this result shows they’re, at bare minimum, capable of it against a top tier opponent.
2. John Gibson is back with a vengeance
Through five games this season, Gibson leads the league in GSAx with a 4.42 mark. He has faced the most expected goals allowed from his defense, which is easy to see if you’ve watched the games, and has been almost the entire reason why the Ducks have even been in close games.
The Colorado series was no exception, especially during Sunday’s game when the Grant line was matched up with the MacKinnon line, leading Gibson to have to play some of the best hockey in his career to keep them off the scoreboard.
3. Dallas Eakins “stop giving the fourth line top minutes” challenge
Look, I get that the Deslauriers - Grant - Rowney line has probably been the best unit early in the season. That’s obviously concerning for the team as a whole, but five games of good play against lower-level competition don’t automatically mean you should be putting them out against arguably the best line in hockey.
At least the good results from the other lines and the promising results from vets like Rickard Rakell, Adam Henrique, Jakob Silfverberg, and Ryan Getzlaf could force Eakins to limit the grinders minutes again. One can only hope.
4. Ryan Getzlaf is flashing his vintage self
This pass from the captain to Rakell for his first goal of the season shows that while he may be getting older, his elite vision hasn’t faded.
One of the best things about Ryan Getzlaf has been his historical ability to make people’s jaws drop with incredible passes. For a team that isn’t exactly flush with game-breaking players, Getzlaf pulling that kind of pass out of the elite playmaker folder can at least give everyone a burst of energy.
5. Overtime is pain
We’re on year five of 3-on-3 overtime in the NHL. A lot of things have changed in that time, but one of the few constants has been Anaheim’s inability to play the extra period effectively. It feels as though every loss in overtime happens in a smash-your-head-against-the-wall fashion. This has been happening with three different head coaches, so maybe the problem is the team construction and not the coaching. Either that, or they’ll need to dedicate about a month’s worth of practices to the cause.