Game 70

Date: Sunday, March 10th

Time: 7:00 PT / 10:00 ET

Location: Honda Center, Anaheim CA

TV: NBCSN

Radio: AM830

Your Enemy: Jewels From The Crown

It’s time.

Two teams in the bottom five of the NHL standings. Both coaches from the beginning of the season gone. Both with big trades to kick start retools. Both unable to compete this season and gunning for top prize Jack Hughes in the draft.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you tonight:

The Jack-Off

The NHL schedulers apparently forgot these teams probably should play each other more than once with only one month left in the season and tonight being only the second game of a four game season series against LA.

The first meeting saw the Kings down the Ducks 4-1 fresh off of firing head coach John Stevens and hiring Willie Desjardins as an interim replacement. Recently, however, the two teams have been heading in opposite directions.

LA has lost 13 of their last 14 contests, while Anaheim has won 6 of their last 13. Sure, the Ducks record under Murray isn’t particularly impressive, but the real tale of the tape lies in the comparison of the SoCal teams underlying numbers.

Last 10 Games

Ducks: 50 CF%, 60 GF%, 51.28 SCF%, 52.15 HDCF%

Kings: 47.58 CF%, 34.88 GF%, 45.66 SCF%, 41.22 HDCF%

While the Kings have scored only three goals in their last three games, the Ducks have scored 15.

Sample size is a thing, however. The Kings may be playing worse overall, but the Ducks should not be mistaken for a challenging team. Tonight has a chance to bring out a fight in the Kings that has been absent as of late, with these two teams almost always providing us with fierce, entertaining rivalry hockey.

Though, this time, these teams are aiming for a different prize.

Keys To The Game

Quick is vulnerable

Jonathan Quick is in the midst of the worst season of his career with an .891 SV% while giving up almost 20 more goals than a league average goaltender this season. With Jack Campbell losing to the Arizona Coyotes last night, Quick will reacquaint himself with his favorite team on an offensive outburst. This might be fun.

The PDO Gods are fickle

The Ducks 1.109 PDO over their three-game offensive outburst has been primarily driven by an astronomical shooting percentage. This is not a sustainable model of success, and that luck could dry up at any second. Games against the Kings often contain the unexpected, and in a fight for a better draft position, LA giving the Ducks a challenge may catch some by surprise.