The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up their home-and-home set with the Florida Panthers last night (Jan. 21) at Honda Center and dropped the contest 5-2. It was the better set of 60 minutes against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but that consolation is futile at this point in the season. It’s time for results. After a string of impressive wins over other “measuring stick” clubs thus far this season, their lack of success in January is closing what was an already small window to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff picture. Let’s review what we learned from the Ducks’ two-game series with the Panthers.
Ducks Aren’t Strong in Any One Particular Area
Not against elite teams, anyway. Yes, the Ducks fought their way to wins over solid teams in December like the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, and Tampa Bay Lightning, but this team still doesn’t have a calling card. One night, the offense shows up. In others, their offense does just enough in front of a herculean effort by John Gibson or Lukas Dostal. But they rarely win the same game twice, which points to a lack of identity and strength in any one particular area of the game.
Going into the matchup, I posited that the Panthers were vulnerable on defense. After all, they had surrendered the same number of goals at the time. But the offense didn’t execute in their 3-0 defeat on Jan. 18. The Ducks benefited from the return of Trevor Zegras last night, and they had some jump early with two first-period goals, including a pretty finish on the power play by Frank Vatrano. Mason McTavish netted the second goal in the final minute of the opening frame. He displayed a finisher’s mentality that is so inconsistently present among Ducks forwards when he came down on a two-on-one and was thinking shot all the way. It had us all thinking that the Ducks were ready for a track meet with the current champs. Right?
Wrong. The Ducks had nothing for the Panthers in the final 40 minutes. They possessed the puck some in the second, but they rarely threatened, weren’t crisp, and definitely weren’t the more energetic team. This roster, which possesses as much youthful exuberance as it does veteran physicality and leadership, just doesn’t excel in any one thing. They haven’t put an offensive scheme together. The half-veteran, half-youth defense grouping yields average results, and in what is perhaps their biggest indictment, they aren’t exciting to watch right now. There is no way that should describe a team that has guys like Leo Carlsson, Olen Zellweger, McTavish, and Zegras on it. What’s more, is that they didn’t have any response whatsoever for Sam Reinhart, who delivered a dangerous knee-on-knee hit to Isac Lundestrom in their first matchup on Saturday.
Latest Slide Must Shine a Spotlight on Coaching
The losses to the Panthers dropped the Ducks to 2-6-2 in their last 10 games. The 3-0 shutout and 5-2 defeat are part and parcel of the Ducks’ seasons-long inability to score enough goals to win a game. They have been shut out three times in the last two weeks and have scored just two goals four other times. The results suggest a painful picture that whatever is being preached by Greg Cronin and his staff in Anaheim just is not working.
There is no doubt that Cronin knows hockey. He has put his time in and proved that he deserved a shot to coach an NHL franchise. But after 125 or so games behind the bench, it has become clear that he is struggling to bring the best out of very capable players. Ultimately, it is on them to perform, but they also have a responsibility to play the way that Cronin wants them to. For this set of players, at this current time, what he asks of them isn’t working. How much of that is youth? How about scheme?
This is not a campaign to fire him by any stretch, but the lack of improvement in a multitude of areas across his season and a half – special teams and offensive production, primarily – begs the question: if the on-ice personnel isn’t going to change (which seems likely right now), then where do you go to light a fire under this organization?
We Are Still Waiting for Someone to Take Charge of This Team
The Ducks are still without a bonafide star. Someone that will take charge of this team and put the onus on himself to perform and produce consistently, no matter the score, circumstances, or people around him. Troy Terry and Vatrano are the closest players to that right now. It’s why both have signed well-deserved extensions recently.
Related: Ducks News & Rumors: Gibson, Vatrano, Zegras, Dumoulin & More
Terry and Vatrano are foundational pieces for this team right now and will be for the rest of their prime years. But the reality of the situation is the Ducks’ future lies with players like Zellweger, McTavish, Carlsson, Zegras, Cutter Gauthier, Jackson LaCombe, and Pavel Mintyukov. Now, these players are all under 23. It means that there is time for one, two, or more of them to become the star player(s) that every franchise needs, let alone the Ducks, to reach the next level. Who it will be remains one of the biggest question marks as of now and going forward, given none of them have shown outright that they can be the guy in Orange County for the next 8-10 years.
A Strong Finish to January Is Possible
The Ducks will close January with games against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Jan. 23), Nashville Predators (Jan. 25), Seattle Kraken (Jan. 28), and Calgary Flames (Jan. 30). None of these teams should scare them, so a consistent and complete effort in each phase of the game, not unlike the efforts that got them their best wins so far, should be enough to win at least two of these games. They’ll need a better effort than what they brought against the defending Stanley Cup Champs.
