The Anaheim Ducks have qualified for the NHL playoffs in each of the last five seasons. The franchise is widely considered to be a perennial contender and for very good reason. They've been to the Conference Finals in two of the last three seasons and probably should have won at least one of those series. That identity is about to go to the wayside if this team can't pull it together in their final 27 games.

The Ducks are 26-19-10 with 62 points. They are closer to the bottom of the Western Conference than the top. As I type this they are two points out of both the Wild Card and third place in the Pacific Division. And all of the teams ahead of them have games in hand, multiple games in hand. Think playoff version of the old Atari game Frogger on expert level.

It's definitely not a comfortable position to be in this late in the game, especially for a team used to winning and winning often. To say nothing has come easy this season is an understatement. The schedule makers haven't done much to help alleviate stress because winning is about to get a whole lot tougher.

Fifteen of their final 27 games will be played in the friendly confines of the Honda Center, AKA the Pond, AKA the house that Mickey built, AKA the house that Teemu made better. The Ducks are 14-9-3 in their own building, compared to 12-10-7 in enemy territory. Anaheim's played very well in their own building recently, winning six of seven there. The road has been less kind.

Unfortunately, February is a travel heavy month with nine of 13 games on the road. The Ducks next two games are in Orange County. They host the Oilers on Friday and the Sharks on Sunday before packing their bags again. They'll play four games in eight days on the road before returning home again. If that road trip turns out anything like the most recent one - it may be the final nail in that playoff coffin.

Other news and notes:

- Ondrej Kase is on one of his streaks again. The young wingers has two goals and three points in the last two games. He has multiple three games point streaks followed by extended scoreless streaks. He's kind of a lightning in a bottle player and right now he's electric.

- Corey Perry has six points (2g 4a) during a three game point streak. He is showing flashes of offensive ability again. The feet don't move like they used to but the guy can still shoot. If he keep this up the Ducks will start racking up the wins again.

- The Ducks longest winning streak this season is three games and they've done that twice. That's almost unbelievable. What's unimaginable is that they've have four losing streaks of three or more games, including two four game losing streaks. If they can string four, five or six wins in a row soon they are toast.

- John Gibson was back on the ice and could be back sooner than we think.

John Gibson on the ice. Reto Berra is still here but Gibson and Miller getting most of the time in net for practice.

— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) February 8, 2018

I sure hope he close to a return because the Ducks need him back there. The guy is unflappable and difference maker.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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