While the Anaheim Ducks are still at the top of the Pacific Division by a comfortable margin there is a four-way logjam for second place with the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and Calgary Flames that is going to make for an intense playoff race.
Keep in mind that there are only three automatic playoff spots in each division with two additional potential wild card spots available in the Western Conference that will go to the teams in the Pacific and Central Divisions with the highest final regular season point total. In essence, it all means that the playoffs have started now.
Ducky Regular Seasons
While Anaheim had a Pacific high 54 points with a record of 24-8-2-4 their metrics are a hint of tough times that may well come before the playoffs even begin. Anaheim ranked 17th in the NHL for goal scoring, 23rd for power play efficiency, 14th for goals against, and 19th for penalty killing. Those are numbers that certainly cannot sustain success come playoff time, which has been the albatross around the neck of Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Boudreau has always had exciting and up-tempo hockey teams both with Washington and Anaheim that excel in the regular season only to flame out in the playoffs when the checking is at its tightest. C Ryan Kesler has proven to be an outstanding acquisition from Vancouver as he had 12 goals and 15 assists behind only superstar Ryan Getzlaf who led the Ducks with 12 goals and 30 assist. Frederik Anderson was emerging as Anaheim’s much needed goaltending solution with a .916 save percentage and a record of 20-5-5.
Flames Heat Back Up
As mentioned here last week Calgary head coach Bob Hartley got a well-deserved extension last week in the midst of an eight game losing streak. Since that time the Flames have won three in a row to get back into a Western Conference playoff spot. Defender Mark Giordano has emerged as a top shelf Norris Trophy candidate and leads the most underrated defensive corps in the game.
Giordano had 10 goals and 25 assists to rank second on the team in scoring and boasted a +17. The 31-year-old team captain has been an anchor of a team that continues to laugh in the face of the fancy stats crowd. Fellow defensemen TJ Brodie, Dennis Wideman, and Kris Russell continue to give the Flames enhanced credibility and grudging respect. LW Johnny Gaudreau had a hat trick last week to improve to 12 goals and 18 assists.
