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Ducks @ Avalanche PREVIEW: Snowballing

Anaheim will look to snap their three game losing streak and increase offense tonight in Denver.

By LuckieDuckie8
Anaheim Ducks v Colorado Avalanche Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images

The Anaheim Ducks enter Colorado looking for some answers to the lack of offense. They’ve dropped the last three straight games while the red hot Colorado Avalanche continue to stay atop the Western Conference after a lopsided 6-1 victory in Vegas.

The Lay of the Land

After an unexpected bright start, things are beginning to come down to earth after injuries to Josh Manson and Ondrej Kase. Yesterday, the Ducks acquired defenseman Erik Gudbrandson from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Andreas Martinsen and a 2021 7th-round pick. It’s clear with the recent deficits, the Ducks may be able looking to offset their losses by looking into the trade market.

The Colorado Avalanche are bringing in a team that was one game from eliminating last year’s Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis. The 7-1-1 team currently top the Western Conference with a mix of firepower and defense. But the Avs did are facing the significant loss of forward MIkko Rantanen to a lower body injury this past Monday in St. Louis. HC Jared Bednar is looking to fill that void by moving J.T. Compher to the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. And so far, that moved worked out well. Last night, Compher had an assist in the 6-1 rout of Vegas.

In terms of home wins, the Avs have yet to lose at home while the Ducks have lost four of the six road games.

Keys to the Game

  1. Slow down the Avalanche - Colorado’s top line boasts of offensive speed. The Ducks defensemen will need to stay tight and avoid any cheating on the blue line.
  2. Outstanding goaltending - By the looks of this Colorado team, let’s all be honest and say that the Ducks are going to have to rely on John Gibson to put his best pad forward considering the offensive power they’ll be facing from not only Colorado’s first line, but also from the secondary scoring that is starting to heat up this season.
  3. More goals - The Ducks need to stop this goal drought. Just get down to the basics. More pucks to the net. More crashing the net. And more dirty goals. Sounds easy right?

Puck drops at 6pm tonight at Pepsi Center.

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