Monday night is going to be a special night in the city of Winnipeg as Stanley Cup Playoff hockey returns to the city for the first time in nearly 20 years as the Winnipeg Jets welcome the Anaheim Ducks to the MTS Centre.
The series has been a tough one thus far for the Ducks, who have picked up two come-from-behind victories en route to a 2-0 series lead. Saturday’s win was of the dramatic variety, as Jakob Silfverberg scored with just 21 seconds remaining on the clock to give his team a 2-1 victory and send the club north on a winning note.
Despite the close nature of the two games so far in this series, it can be argued that the Ducks have been the most dominant team in the Western Conference so far during the postseason. According to data compiled by Jen LC, the Ducks hold an incredible 59-41 percent edge in possession when teams are at even strength. That is far and away the best out of the four spreads in the West, with the St. Louis Blues currently possessing in second place at 52.9 percent.
In addition to holding onto the puck more often, the Ducks are also racking up scoring chances like nobody’s business. They have attempted 105 shots so far in the series, compared to just 73 for the Jets. They also have been dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 55 draws out of the 95 contested so far in the series and giving themselves chances to get possessions going early and often no matter what zone of the ice they’re starting in.
Even with all of these advanced metrics pointing to the Ducks being the favored team for the rest of the series, all of it can go out the window in an instant with the Jets on home ice. They are a physical team, but they also have the ability to alter the game’s tempo in any way they see fit. If they want to speed it up, they have players that can engage in a track meet-style of play. If they want to slow it down, they have physical bruisers that can clog up the neutral zone and wreak havoc along the boards.
Add to the mix the fact that the Winnipeg crowd will likely be the loudest one anyone will hear in the first round of the postseason, and you have a mix that could make life very difficult for the Ducks.
If the Ducks are going to emerge from Winnipeg with a victory on Monday night, their tasks are simple. First and foremost on that list is the need to withstand the early assault that the Jets are sure to uncork. They will pinch in defensemen and move the puck up the ice quickly early in the game as they look to establish momentum in the contest, and even though the Ducks have shown an ability to play quickly and effectively in the first two games, it’s still something that must be guarded against in this one.
The second key will be to keep getting traffic in front of Ondrej Pavelec in the Jets’ end of the ice. He’s done an excellent job so far in this series of fighting through screens and stopping shots, but the Ducks can’t give up that strategy just because of Pavelec’s consistency. Getting guys like Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler to the front of the net will not only allow for potential screens and goals from point shots, but it will also give those forwards chances to clean up rebounds and score easy goals near the blue paint.
