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After a strong start to the year, which saw the Anaheim Ducks go 9-6-0 through the first 15 games of the season, things have taken a bit of a turn.
With three more losses last week at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim is now riding a six-game losing streak. So after early optimism around the team, the Ducks now sit at just a 9-12-0 record, as they continue to slide down the Western Conference standings. While the team has looked much more competitive early in the year, the streak serves as a reminder that finding consistency with their game is a step yet to be taken.
Poor starts have been a consistent problem in pretty much every game so far, with the Ducks continuing to fall behind early night after night. Just last week alone, Anaheim found themselves down by two goals after the first period in each of their three losses.
Through the early stretch of the season, the Ducks were able to rebound in the third period and put together some exciting comeback wins. The difference is they’re putting themselves too far behind recently to even have a chance at battling back.
The Ducks’ offense, which looked quite healthy early on, has also seen a sharp decline. The team has just 11 goals over their last six games, with the Ducks not getting enough production from most forwards throughout their lineup. While Mason McTavish and Frank Vatrano continue to be two of Anaheim's best players to this point, Troy Terry has struggled to find his game so far with just five goals and 13 points in 21 games, while Trevor Zegras remains out. Alex Killorn also has yet to really provide a whole lot since returning from injury, and then while the team’s development plan for Leo Carlsson sitting some games seems to have a lot of thought behind it, it’s still undeniable how much better the top-six is with him in the lineup.
On the blue line, Cam Fowler and Jackson LaCombe have also struggled a bit. While LaCombe looked really active against Los Angeles after returning to the lineup, the duo was minus-four and minus-five respectively in the loss to the Oilers.
It also doesn’t help that the team also isn’t getting the goaltending they were early on. Both John Gibson and Lukas Dostal were excellent to start the year, but each netminder has seen a bit of a downward trend over the past little while, to varying degrees. Gibson hasn’t been great recently, but he’s usually not getting much help and you can’t fault him for a lot of what’s going in. But Dostal has really struggled lately, allowing 19 goals over his last three starts (on route to a .787 save percentage in that time), and was pulled after six goals on 16 shots against the Edmonton Oilers. Good goaltending wouldn’t necessarily have made much of a difference in some of their recent losses, but the Ducks haven’t been nearly as competitive without it.
While it’s still early and the Pacific Division has been so bad that the Ducks could climb right back into the mix with a couple wins, it’s really the first adversity that Greg Cronin has faced so far with the team. There isn’t a ton going right at the moment, and the blowout loss to Edmonton was especially deflating, but in a season that should be more about development than results anyways, there’s still tons of time to get things back on track.
Growing pains are to be expected with a young team, and the reality is Anaheim is still worlds better than last year. Pavel Mintyukov remains a standout in his rookie season, and the Ducks remain competitive in most games. But it would be great to see the Ducks able to get themselves out of slumps before it becomes such a problem, like the current losing skid has been.
The Ducks will be back in action tonight, as they face the Vancouver Canucks.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
- Ducks carrying momentum after perfect road trip, have opportunity in West
- Ducks win fifth straight with overtime victory against Coyotes
- Ducks hand Vegas their first regulation loss, win streak now at six games
- Ducks’ six-game winning streak ends in shutout loss to Penguins
- The Anaheim Ducks have entered a new era
- Ducks rebound to end homestand on positive note with win over Sharks
- Ducks split back-to-back with comeback win vs. Preds, blowout loss to Avs
- Ducks fall short against Panthers after controversial no-goal
- Ducks' scoring slump continues in loss to Blues 
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