How the Ducks soared so far this postseason
Before Anaheim’s Western Conference Final series with the Blackhawks, the Ducks were seen as a pretty good team and an even match for Chicago.
Now, after three games in the Western Conference Final and a 2-1 series lead, one has to wonder if the Ducks were underrated going into this match up.
Anaheim is 10-2 in these playoffs. One loss was against Calgary, and came off a fluky set of events that led to an OT winner. Anaheim’s other defeat was in triple overtime against the Blackhawks in Game 2 that was a post or two from a Ducks win.
Twelve games two losses, and it took extra sessions to beat Anaheim, which goes into Game 4 at Chicago up 2-1 in its series.
It doesn’t take a ton of advanced metrics to know that’s pretty good. Though we will get into some of the advanced stuff further down in the story.
“The will on this team, I’ve said all year from day one, you could see it in training camp, you could see it in the pre-season games,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “You guys would talk to me and say there’s a different aura about this group. We haven’t won anything, but there is a resiliency that’s as good as most.”
Center Ryan Getzlaf and winger Corey Perry are both tied for the second-most points this playoff with 16. Second-line winger Jakob Silfverberg has turned into a two-way threat with 13 points in 12 games.
Frederik Andersen has a 1.75 goals against average and .935 save percentage. After that triple overtime letdown against Chicago, he came back with 27 saves on 28 Blackhawks shots on goal. When he has been beaten this postseason, rarely has it looked bad.
The Ducks lead the playoffs with 3.58 goals per-game. They’ve allowed a postseason best 1.92 goals per-game.
Their CF% is 51.91 per Natural Stat Trick. Their SAT close is plus-47 according to the NHL’s enhanced stats site.
Why is this? Size? Strength? Speed? Depth? Probably all of the above.
“I think we got bigger this year. Our depth got stronger. Our D got bigger. They’re a little bit harder to play against in our zone and throughout the series,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said.
There are so many reasons why this Ducks team is tough, beyond the aforementioned facts.
They’re healthy, and they can confidently roll four lines, which is a huge advantage this deep in the playoffs.
Plus, coach Bruce Boudreau has players on his bench he can use if he wants to change the look on his bottom pairs or forwards. Jiri Sekac has been excellent this series, after sitting out the first two rounds of the playoffs.
If any of Boudreau’s D get hurt, he can counter with James Wisniewski, who has yet to play this playoff.
Who knew the Ducks were this good besides themselves? Having talent is one thing, having the right mindset to win in the playoffs is another. So many teams are even. Though the Ducks had better personnel than the Calgary Flames, a bounce or two could have changed that second-round series. Winnipeg was a sexy upset pick to beat the Ducks in the first-round, but was swept.
The Blackhawks are a veteran group that’s won two Stanley Cups since 2010. They know a good team when they see one, and they know going back to Anaheim down 3-1 could spell catastrophe for their playoff run.
“We’ve done it in the past before. It’s never a situation you want to be in, especially with a team like Anaheim, the caliber they have on that team. They’re a deep team, they’re deadly,” Chicago forward Brandon Saad said. “We don’t want to get in a position where we have to fight and crawl out of a hole. We want to even it up and score on home ice here.”
Granted, all teams are prone to stinkers, even in the playoffs. The Ducks included. A horrible loss in Game 4 on Saturday at United Center and the complexion of the series changes again. But that’s just the nature of the postseason. At this moment, few teams have played better this postseason than Anaheim.
– – – – – – –
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
