Game 74

Date: Wednesday,March 19th, 2019

Time: 7:00 PM PT

Location: Honda Center

TV: Fox Sports Prime

Radio: AM830

Your Enemy: Arctic Ice Hockey

The Anaheim Ducks welcome the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets mid-week at Honda Center. There are only a handful of games left for the Anaheim Ducks, eight to be exact, and only four at home. What’s funny is that the golf course-bound Ducks look beyond better than the playoff-bound Ducks a few months ago. How time has flew by eh?

Well I know why I’ll be there at the game tonight:

ducks.nhl.com

It’s so bad, it’s so good.

But in all seriousness, since the Ducks are no longer playing for the Cup, it looks like the Ducks will be (not) playing for the 2019 Draft Lottery Pick. Courtesy of tankathon.com, we can see that the Anaheim Ducks currently sit fifth in terms of odds for that first pick.

tankathon.com

Now I get that we want to tank, but at the same time, it’s been nice to see the Ducks win some games and actually look like they know what they are doing. What is even nicer is that we are beginning to see the kids really blossom. You can tell that the game has slowed down for them compared to the first time they stepped on the ice with the big boys earlier this season. And since they really have nothing to lose and everything to prove at this point, they are able to experiment and try new things. Sure, any wins that are won aren’t helping our chances for Hughes, but they are helping expose the kids to winning and the type of plays that work for the Anaheim club.

The Enemy

The Winnipeg Jets are taking care of business as the regular season wraps up. The Jets are currently enjoying a three-game win streak after putting way the LA Kings on Monday night. While they haven’t clinched yet, they are very close with 90 points. If they win tonight, the earliest they can possibly clinch is tomorrow against the Vegas Golden Knights.

It’ll be interesting to see which Winnnipeg Jets team shows up. We know that the team is capable of being a goal-scoring offensive juggernaut. But lately, there seems to be a shift in play. The past four games have been one-goal games, where the Jets were able to pull off wins in the past three. The games have been close because it looks like the Jets are beginning focus more on their defensive play as they begin to start building for the post-season run. Interesting.

Keys to the Game

1. Watch out for those odd-man rushes please — The Jets are fast, skilled, and smart. The Ducks would do best to not get caught on the wrong side of a 2-on-1 against this team.
2. Clog up the open areas and minimize space between the dmen and opposing team. The Jets will instinctively take advantage of space that the Ducks will give them in the o-zone. There have been too many times that Anaheim allows the opposing team to simply skate in and find opportunities in front of the net.
3. Keep an eye on Blake Wheeler as he is clearly the playmaker on the Jets. He will be looking to extend his current four-game point streak. He has 20G-8A-88P, posting a 0.75 points per game this season.