ANAHEIM — What’s wrong with the Ducks? Why were they stuck in last place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference at the opening of business around the NHL on Sunday? What has prevented them from improving their play and rising in the standings?
“It’s a moving target, is what I find,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “I don’t know if it’s a whole game we’re backing up, but I think early on what cost us a number of points was our power play. Over the last 10 or 11 games, our power-play numbers are actually quite good.
“Then there was a stretch where our penalty kill wasn’t great. Maybe it was costing us. Now they’ve done a damn good job the last 10 games. We’re always going to be a little bit handicapped to score, but now it’s our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot.
“Or maybe not be as nasty or hungry down in front of our net.”
In many regards, it’s been like plugging leaks in a faulty dam. For now, Eakins said he would like the Ducks’ five-on-five play to improve, but not at the expense of their power play or penalty kill. Overall, the Ducks have scored 105 goals, the second-fewest in the league.
Only the woeful Detroit Red Wings have fewer, with 90.
“OK, we’ve just got to fix that power play and that penalty kill,” Eakins said. “Great, got ’em fixed. OK, there’s another leak there. So, it is a moving target. I’m not sure that’s not unexpected, but it’s certainly not the standard here.
“The standard here is always going to be, ‘Hey, we’re doing our best to score goals. We’re doing our best to defend. We’re doing our best on the power play. The penalty kill. Our goaltending. Or whatever it is.’ The reality within any team is that it’s always going to be moving target.”
Right wing Kiefer Sherwood was encouraged from an early age to crash the net in search of rebounds and loose pucks that he might smack behind the opposing goaltender. It’s a fundamental that all young players are taught, as much a part of the game as passing to an open teammate.
Sherwood might have taken it a bit too far when he slammed his knee into the goal post while playing for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL earlier this season. He was sidelined for six weeks, returning only recently to play four games with the Gulls before the Ducks recalled him Saturday.
“It is what it is,” Sherwood said of an injury that limited him to 18 games with the Gulls. “It happened. I’m just focused on getting my knee back and trying to control what I can. It’s a part of sports. I ran into the post. I feel better every game. It’s more of a mindset now.”
Canada’s victory over Russia in the world juniors gold medal game was a source of great national pride, of course. But what did it mean in terms of the bigger picture for players with hopes and aspirations of playing key roles in the NHL some day?
“Just to be the go-to guy in a tournament like that, being the captain, and learning from all those things … it was a huge thing,” said Ducks left wing Max Comtois, who played in the past two world juniors for Canada. “It was a great experience.”
