In any sport, measuring yourself against the champion is commonplace, simply because the champion is a model of consistency and excellence. Therefore, it makes your performance against them the best barometer of your franchise’s progress toward the ultimate goal: championships. For the Anaheim Ducks, they’ll have two straight chances to see how they stack up against the Florida Panthers. They play the reigning Stanley Cup Champions tonight in Sunrise before taking them on again next week (Jan. 21) on their home turf in Anaheim.
Let’s dive into what lies ahead for the Ducks in what will likely be two of the toughest games remaining on their 2024-25 slate. We’ll talk about game plans, players to watch out for, and storylines.
Ducks Must Reverse Their Special Teams Misfortunes
The Ducks haven’t scored a power-play goal on their road trip. Consequently, their offense has run consistently cold across those five games and has just eight goals in that span. You will seldom beat anybody when you don’t take advantage of your power-play opportunities. The Ducks will certainly have no chance at all against the Panthers if they can’t find the recipe quickly.
Related: Ducks’ Offense Quiet & Other Takeaways From Loss to Capitals
The Ducks’ power-play conversion rate, currently a paltry 12.7%, has hovered between 30th and 32nd all season and won’t get much better if they only convert every eighth chance. Ironically, they are zero for their last eight power-play chances, so math suggests they are due anytime now, right? Let’s see if they can put one in against the Panthers’ 19th-ranked penalty kill (78.5%).
At this point, experiencing such little success likely has less to do with the skill and personnel on the ice and more about the mental and physical consequences of failing to produce. Guys are feeling the pressure to score and as a result, are thinking or trying to do too much and gripping the sticks a little too tight. They will score again; it’s just a matter of when. Getting one or more against Florida will significantly help their chances of victory.
Ducks Have the Physicality to Match That of the Panthers
The Panthers outlasted the Edmonton Oilers in a thrilling Stanley Cup Final last season because they can beat you in so many ways. The Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart tandem can finish with the best of them and possesses superb two-way skill. The Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk tandem plays smash-mouth, relentlessly physical hockey. Carter Verhaege, who scored 34 goals last season and 42 the season before that, plays on the third forward line. Aaron Ekblad (though he isn’t projected to play tonight) and Gustav Forsling are rocks defensively (the latter is also a plus-19), and when he’s on his game, Sergei Bobrovsky is tough to beat. The question is, in which area of the game can the Ducks keep up?
The answer has to be physicality. Radko Gudas, who was a member of the 2023 Stanley Cup Finalist version of these Panthers, Jacob Trouba, and Brian Dumoulin are all heavy-bodied, physical defenders who can and should be able to grind it out with many of the Panthers skaters. These guys won’t get pushed around easily and have no trouble pushing back when the moment serves. Look for them to provide the physicality necessary to neutralize the Panthers and give their own skilled teammates the opportunities to have the puck and make plays.
Matchup to Watch: Ducks Veteran Defense vs. Panthers Top Six
For the reasoning stated above, the chess match between the rugged veteran defense grouping of the Ducks against the big, physical, and skilled members of the Panthers’ top-six forward group should be the best matchup to watch over their upcoming 120 minutes of competition. Will there be post-whistle antics? Maybe some within-the-lines runs at certain players? How about some fun corner or net-front battles?
Gudas and Trouba don’t back down from anybody so don’t be surprised if either of them mixes it up with Bennett and Tkachuk or tries to knock Barkov and Reinhart off their game. Who wouldn’t get jazzed up by seeing Gudas or Trouba absolutely plaster Tkachuk (cleanly, of course) into the boards? If we get 120 minutes of it over the next few days? Sign me up.
Area for Ducks to Exploit: Leaky Goaltending
Unlike in their march to the championship last season, the hallmark of this Panthers team is not their goaltending, which is why the Ducks will have a chance here. The Panthers and Ducks have both surrendered 142 goals on the season. The Panthers just have a far better record because they score a lot, too. Even though the Ducks don’t (2.42 goals per game, last in the NHL), the chances to get three or more goals should present themselves. Frank Vatrano, Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, and Mason McTavish need to capitalize.
Player to Watch: Mason McTavish
This matchup is tailor-made for a big, physical player to thrive. Enter McTavish, who, despite being just 21 years old, is built out at nearly 220 pounds and should give Forsling and the rest of the Panthers defense a rough ride.
After a pretty pedestrian first half of the season, McTavish is one of a few players who can really help the Ducks win some games if only he produces at a more consistent clip. He entered the season as a presumptive breakout candidate, so a strong second half of the campaign would go a long way into reassuring the Ducks faithful (and management) that he indisputably is a foundational piece for this club over the next 5-7 years, maybe longer. It behooves him to feel the same way and perform accordingly, given he is a pending restricted free agent. History has shown that when General Manager Pat Verbeek isn’t quite sure what he has in his young players, he can be tough to strike a deal with. Just ask Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.
The young centerman played great against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (Jan. 16) so expect him to follow that up in kind against the Panthers.
Closing the Trip With a Win Over the Champs? Priceless
The Ducks have a propensity to raise their level of play against elite opponents. They collected three of the four possible points against the Lightning this season. Elsewhere, they have wins over the Winnipeg Jets (2), Utah Hockey Club (2), Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, and Carolina Hurricanes. What better way to close the road trip than to beat the reigning Stanley Cup Champions before an immediate rematch on your home ice? Can’t wait to see it. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. EST at Amerant Bank Arena.
