Fansided

The NHL’s Wild Wild Western Conference wild card race

By Jeremy Lambert

ST. PAUL, MN - NOVEMBER 24: Nathan MacKinnon
ST. PAUL, MN - NOVEMBER 24: Nathan MacKinnon /
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ANAHEIM, CA – MARCH 06: Anaheim Ducks rightwing Corey Perry on the bench during the first period of a game against the Washington Capitals played on March 6, 2018 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – MARCH 06: Anaheim Ducks rightwing Corey Perry on the bench during the first period of a game against the Washington Capitals played on March 6, 2018 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Anaheim Ducks: Goals

Ricard Rakell is lighting it up, posting 30-plus goals for a second straight season.

No one else has 20.

In fairness to the Ducks, their lack of goalscoring is nothing new. They’ve been in the bottom half of the league in goals for since 2014-15. But this is 2018, baby. You need goals to win hockey games. Scores of 2-1 and 3-2 just aren’t cutting it nowadays. If you can’t win 6-3, you aren’t going far.

Ignore the fact that the Ducks recently beat the Blackhawks 6-3. Beating the Blackhawks only counts as half a win this season.

The easiest way to score more goals is to have a good power play. The Ducks have the 23rd-ranked power play, which is the worst mark of any current playoff team. You know how you score power play goals? You get power play opportunities.

The Ducks draw the second least penalties in the league. Only the Oilers have had fewer power play opportunities. To put in perspective how bad that is, the Oilers have Connor McDavid. If you breathe on him incorrectly, it’s a five-minute major. And the Oilers still can’t draw penalties.

Anaheim has no one at the status of Connor McDavid. Their good players have actually won a Stanley Cup. They have veteran guys who know how to draw penalties. I’ve watched Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf complain about every penalty ever called against them for years. They know how to take penalties. And they know how to draw them.

They should start drawing more penalties.

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it’s a wounded duck who was unintentionally tripped and took a tumble like it was shot out of the sky with an orange gun.

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