Ducks tied for points lead after come-from-behind win over Preds
The Anaheim Ducks are once again the best team in the Western Conference, and one of the two best teams in the NHL. No one will dare say it's a permanent thing, because this time of year, everyone is acutely aware of the fragility of the standings.
The Ducks' 4-2 win over Nashville on Sunday night at the Honda Center dropped the Predators to second in the West and brought the Ducks' point total to a league-tying 95. But even with a 13-point lead on Vancouver in the Pacific Division, the Ducks' recent slump seems enough to have put a scare into them.
"Now it's 95 which means for every other team in our conference, it's a little tougher to catch us," said Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau. "It's so close you can never say never, but it's a big two points for us at this stage."
It's highly unlikely the Canucks will catch up, and nearly impossible for anyone else. The Ducks have all but locked up home ice advantage, but they don't feel that they are playing their best hockey, and especially not in the second period.
That weakness was once again exposed Sunday when the Preds scored twice and the Ducks hit the box three times.
"We're trying to just maintain," captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "It is what it is. It's a good team, so we're going to take confidence out of that but we've got to just stay at an even keel here and learn to play the whole game in the right way."
Boudreau delivered a speech that center Nate Thompson said was far from PG-rated in the dressing room between the second and third periods. Being outscored 86-67 is not a particular point of pride among the group.
The speech worked, and so did the forecheck, and the Ducks scored three quick goals late to take a lead before Cam Fowler added on the insurance. Third-period comebacks are quickly becoming the Ducks' signature, but not one they're trying to write out too often.
"Anytime you go down a couple of goals, you have to have the belief that no matter what happens, you can still come back and make a game of it," Fowler said. "We've proven throughout the year that that's something we can do. Come playoff time, things are going to get more difficult. You don't want to put yourself behind heading into the third period very often."
A 13-point lead is nice and it allows the Ducks to work on things like line shuffling and special teams changes. But don't expect Anaheim to coast to the playoffs. Leads are always tenuous, no matter how big they may be, and coasting into the playoffs is can only lead to a crash.
"I used to have a coach that always told me, 'It's not like a faucet, you can't turn it off and on whenever you want,'" Boudreau said. "So if you take your foot off the pedal, then you might not be able to find that pedal again. You've got to start playing the right way all the time."
