One recurring Pacific Division topic in the twilight of the 2011-12 season revolves around the Anaheim Ducks' second-half resurgence under Bruce Boudreau: What has changed, and why is there such a stark difference from their erratic play in the first half of the season?
Obviously Jonas Hiller's minutes in net have vastly improved, as has the level of play from the team's elite core, most notably Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan.
But the most distinct aspect missing from Anaheim's forgettable first half but clearly visible in the team's 22-10-5 record since Jan. 6 has been the solidified roles provided by young forwards who have improved under Boudreau. Whereas earlier this season the third and fourth line forward slots were filled by players shuttling to and from the American Hockey League, they're now being occupied by productive young players with a high work ethic.
"They won't quit," Boudreau said about the team's less-veteran contributors. "They're fighting for not only opportunity for next year, but they're fighting hard for this year. It bodes well for their character."
Devante Smith-Pelly scored a key game-tying goal and was named the first star in Wednesday's 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the NHL-leading St. Louis Blues, spoiling Ken Hitchcock's club's pristine 37-0-1 record when scoring at least three goals this season. It was the third time at home this month that Smith-Pelly earned one of the game's stars; Wednesday was also the second game he skated on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
"It could kind of be looked at as an early tryout for next year," Smith-Pelly said about what he's looking to show over the season's final two weeks. "Nothing's guaranteed for spots. I'm just showing that I've gotten better and showing that I want to be a part of this team moving forward."
If that's the case, he has company in his quest for greater inclusion next season.
Nick Bonino has provided speed and some offensive intelligence in his third partial NHL season, coming off a 26-game scoreless effort a year ago. His second-period goal was the second of three game-tying goals by the Ducks in Wednesday's win and gave him five goals and 16 points as a third-line center who has found immediate chemistry with Bobby Ryan and rookie Kyle Palmieri. The trio also combined for eight points, a plus-nine rating and all three stars in Monday's 5-3 win at San Jose.
"I know that our top two lines carry the load of the scoring and they've done that all this year," Bonino said. "Our goal is really just to chip in while we can and provide some offense, and if we can get a goal a game, or something like that, it'll hopefully help us. So far this year the bottom six has definitely chipped in pretty well."
Palmieri turned 21 last month and after a 10-game stint last season already seems capable of providing quality depth minutes throughout the rest of the year, followed perhaps by an increased role offensively next year as part of Anaheim's quality young forward contingent. Along with Emerson Etem, who scored 61 times as part of a 107-point campaign with the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers, and 20-year old center Peter Holland, who has contributed with a 22-goal, 55-point campaign through 61 American Hockey League games, there's plenty of competition throughout the forward ranks, providing the organization some flexibility should an offer for one of its elite, big-money players materialize.
"There are pretty good young guys in this organization. That's something we've had since I was traded here," Bonino said. "You look at Syracuse, they're making a pretty good push right now, and there are a bunch of guys on that team who are going to play in the NHL one day. Obviously it pushes you, it gives you a little incentive that except for a few guys on this team whose jobs are safe, everyone else has guys coming in right behind them."
It's not just the young forwards who have upped their play in the second half of the season – 20-year-old Cam Fowler has shown improvement on the blueline under Boudreau, while Luca Sbisa, 22, might have been the team's most effective, versatile defenseman since January.
But when Getzlaf refers to a 19-year-old rookie as providing top-line efforts "like Chris Kunitz used to do," as he did with Smith-Pelly after Wednesday's win, ears tend to perk up.
"They're similar players," Getzlaf said about Kunitz and Smith-Pelly. "They've got a pretty good skill set, but they're both fast-skating, hard-hitting guys. When you can go in and retrieve pucks and make that initial chip, it makes a bigger difference than turning the puck over when you get it."
"He's got to go to the net hard, and he's doing it. It's been a pleasure to play with him."
NOTES: St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock, after the loss: "It's the same stuff we've been doing before – we are soft in our own zone. Soft coverage, soft with the puck coming back to haunt us. We've been doing this for a little while and we are paying the price now. It's easy when the puck is in the offensive end like it was in the first period, but when it was in our end a little bit more, we didn't compete hard enough. We didn't compete on the puck, we didn't compete for the puck. We made poor reads. We've been doing that for a little while and we haven't been getting away with it." … Making his 68th start (and appearance) of 2011-12, Jonas Hiller matched Guy Hebert's franchise record for most starts in one season, set in 1999-00. He is one game from matching Hebert's record for appearances in one season, set in 1998-99 with 69. His 68 starts and appearances leads the NHL. … Sheldon Brookbank has three goals and 10 points in his last 26 games; he had recorded one goal and 25 assists in his 243 previous NHL games.
