Game 54

Date: Tuesday, February 5th, 2019

Time: 4:30 PST / 7:00 EST

Location: Centre Bell

TV: KCOP

Radio: AM830

Your Enemy: Eyes On The Prize

After a promising start to yesterday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in which a scoreless tie could be considered a major victory for the Ducks, things began to fall off the rails right out of the gate after.

Now, the second half of this back-to-back slate brings Anaheim to Montreal, again showing off their 25th anniversary alternate jerseys. Which may be the only exciting thing about this team right now.

The Canadiens have surprised this season by sitting comfortably in a playoff spot after many had written this off as a rebuilding year. Thanks to a more healthy roster and better play driving as a whole by Brendan Gallagher, Max Domi, and 2018 3rd overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Montreal finds themselves in contention much sooner than expected.

John Gibson should finally get a break with Chad Johnson expected to get the start in net. Unfortunately for Johnson, though, we could be in for an ugly display as the backup played a portion of last night’s 3rd period and Carlyle unlikely to pull him if things go south again. To be honest, most of us would probably rather have that then throw Gibson back into the fire so soon.

A younger, faster Canadiens team awash with confidence against a reeling and aging team with their backup goaltender in net on the tail end of a back-to-back? What could go wrong?

Keys To The Game

Sit back and try to limit chances: Honestly, if the Ducks want to win any games in the near future (do we really want them to though?), they’re going to have to basically just play it safe, sit back, and hope the defense doesn’t get behind them. To at least give them a chance, because we all know it’s gonna take some shooting luck to score at this point.

Find a beverage with a high alcohol content: I don’t care if this is supposed to be keys for the actual team on the ice; we, the fans, need help to get through these games too.

On second thought, buzzed hockey players probably wouldn’t be worse than whatever we’re watching on the ice day in and day out.

Embrace the tank: Coaching, management, and lack of communication aside, it would probably be in everyone’s best interest to accept this as a lost season and get excited for what the future holds if these losses keep piling up. There’s some good talent at the top of this year’s draft, and the Ducks getting a crack at one of them could halt the Ducks decline in its tracks.