The Anaheim Ducks will have an opportunity to become the first Western Conference team to clinch a berth in the second round of the postseason when they take on the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal.
In the first three games of this series, the Ducks have trailed going into the third period, and through a mix of dominating possession time and scoring late, clutch goals, they have been able to come back and win on every single occasion. The heroes in Game 3 of the series were Ryan Kesler, who scored the game-tying goal with two minutes to go in regulation, and Rickard Rakell, who deflected in the game winner in overtime to give his team the victory and a commanding series lead.
Despite the victory, there were still some elements of the Ducks’ game that they will need to get cleaned up if they are going to take the series down on Wednesday night. First and foremost on that list is the play of their first line, as Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Patrick Maroon had three of the worst four performances among forwards in the game in terms of puck possession. Overall, the trio was a minus-15 in Corsi for the game, and they were one of the few groups that started the majority of their possessions in the offensive zone in the game.
In addition to the play of the first line, the Ducks will also need a better effort out of Cam Fowler in the game. Yes he did score a goal in the win on Monday, rifling in a shot with only six seconds remaining in the first period to tie things up, but his giveaway at the end of the second period could have potentially cost the Ducks the game. He committed a cardinal sin as he tried to pass to the middle of the defensive zone, and Winnipeg forward Bryan Little intercepted it and fired home a shot past Frederik Andersen to make it a 4-3 game at the time.
Even with those challenges ahead of them, the Ducks clearly have the inside track in this series, and they need look only to their successes in Game 3 to see why. The Jets were energized by a home crowd that was whipped into a frenzy for the first playoff game in Winnipeg in nearly two decades, but despite that extra energy and boost, the Ducks largely kept the game even.
The Jets’ physicality can be tough to deal with at times, and they do have defensemen capable of jumping into plays and getting involved, but the Ducks did a good job of keeping most of the attack contained. While the possession numbers did slightly favor Winnipeg at the end, the fact that the Ducks were so dominant in the first two games makes a bit of regression slightly easier to accept.
The beginning of Game 4 should be no different as the Jets try to grab the first postseason win in franchise history. Head coach Paul Maurice will surely have instructed his defensemen to get really active on plays in this game, putting extra pressure on the Anaheim forwards coming out of the neutral zone. This will give the Ducks some odd man chances the other way, but it will also keep the ice tilted toward the Anaheim end, and that’s exactly what the Jets need to be successful.
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If the Ducks can get better performances out of their top line and can withstand the aggressive push from the Jets’ offense, then they have a good chance to close out this series Wednesday and give themselves some time off to get guys like Nate Thompson healed up and rested.
