The Anaheim Ducks are just outside the playoff bubble with 24 games remaining.
They’re also among the teams that could be looking to unload a veteran or two as the NHL trade deadline approaches later this month.
Whichever direction the Ducks end up going, their path could be determined on a brisk five-game road trip that begins on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“We’ve all got to be on our game to play with these teams that we’re going to see in five games in eight days,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said following a six-game homestand that concluded with a 3-2 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. “It’s going to be a lot of hockey, real fast.”
Anaheim went 3-3-0 on their recently completed homestand with two of the wins coming against the Sharks. They entered the week three points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Ducks have shown they can beat the teams below them in the standings pretty regularly, but they’ve struggled against the top teams in the league.
Three of the teams on the upcoming road trip have fewer points than the Ducks, including the Blackhawks.
“The small details in the game are massive right now,” Eakins said. “Our mindset has got to be on that focus. Each and every one of us, staff, all players, that we’re here to win at all costs. And if we can have that, then you can pull out the points. All it’s going to take is for one of us to be off and then it won’t happen. We don’t have the luxury of depth.”
The Blackhawks are in a similar situation, with little room for error in their matchups.
Chicago has not won two games in a row since a four-game winning streak in mid-January.
The Blackhawks had a 2-1 lead against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, but gave up five straight goals before ultimately losing 6-3.
“We’ve got to do a better job of parking things once they’re over,” Chicago defenseman Riley Stillman said. “Once one or two (goals) go in, you’ve got to find a way to regroup.”
Derek King, the interim coach for the Blackhawks since Jeremy Colliton was let go following a 1-9-2 start, wasn’t overly disappointed with the latest outcome.
“We’ll look at the video and probably realize we didn’t play as bad as we thought we did,” he said. “We just gave them a little too much at certain times, and they took advantage of it.”
Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome each had a goal and an assist against the Lightning to continue their hot streaks.
DeBrincat has seven points (three goals, four assists) in the past five games, Kane has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in the past six games and Strome has five points (three goals, two assists) in the past three games.
Kane has reached 40 assists for a seventh straight season.
The Ducks are expected to have goalie John Gibson and forward Ryan Getzlaf back after they missed the win against the Sharks on Sunday with minor injuries. Anaheim forward Isac Lundestrom sustained a lower-body injury in the game and his status is more in doubt against Chicago.
–Field Level Media
