Ducks Dynasty

[johnstone1987]

Way to sweep the First Round and get some momentum going.

[kinsmen7]

Recapping the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Top 3 teams in regular season eliminated in opening round

Western Conference:

Colorado: 4
Winnipeg: 2

Colorado bounced back with 3 straight wins to take their series against Winnipeg in 6. They'll face the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.

Aneheim: 4
Dallas: 0

Tighter than the end results look, the Ducks sweep past the top regular season team in the West. They move on to face a tough Avalanche team.

Calgary: 4
Vancouver: 1

The only all-Canadian matchup in the first round, Calgary skips past Vancouver, and will match up against Vegas in round 2.

Vegas: 4
Minnesota: 3

Vegas came in as a likely contender, but the Minnesota Wild gave them all they could handle. Vegas will play Calgary in round 2.

Eastern Conference

Washington: 4
New Jersey: 2

A Metro Division clash between a strong veteran lineup, and a young talent laden club ends up going to the vets. Alex Ovechkin picks up 7(!!!) goals in 6 games.

Philadelphia: 4
Pittsburgh: 3

A heartbreaker for the Penguins organization. Could this be the last time we see Crosby, Malkin and Letang playing together? The talented trio combined for 32 points, but couldn't drag the Pens over the finish line. Playoff stud Jake Guentzel also picked up 12 points for the Pens. Philly heads to Washington for round 2.

Florida: 4
Toronto: 2

Another year, another first round exit for the Leafs. Major changes could be on the horizon for the organization that hasn't made it out of the first round since 2004. The Leafs finished 2nd overall in the league's regular season standings, but faced a potentially unfair first round test against the team that finished right behind them.

Montreal: 4
Tampa Bay: 3

Another year, another hilarious upset for the Habs. Tampa, who finished the regular season 6 points clear of the Leafs for the Presidents trophy, couldn't finish Montreal off, as the Canadiens survive the first round. They'll stick around in Florida to face the Panthers.

[kinsmen7]

Round two preview, Avs vs. Ducks

If round one showed us anything, it's that you can throw the results of the regular season out the window when it comes playoff time.

A full team effort by the Ducks helped them dispatch the Stars in their first playoff appearance since a first round loss in 2018.

When it comes to the Colorado, they come in after a 6 game series win over Winnipeg. They also swept the three game season series against the Ducks, outscoring them 12-3.

Colorado boasts a formidable offence, young, extremely talented defence, and an elite goaltender. Names like MacKinnon, Landeskog, Rantanen, Kadri, Burakovsky, Byram, Girard, and Kuemper lead this team, and that's all without mentioning perrenial Norris contender Cale Makar.

It's another tough opponent for the Ducks, but that's how it works in the Playoffs. While Dallas may have been the top team in the West for the regular season, Colorado boasts a much deeper lineup.

Key to the series: John Gibson. Colorado can match up with just about every facet of the Ducks game, and on paper are more skilled, tougher, and boast a much more talent laden lineup than the Ducks. One area that the Ducks might be better though-In net. John Gibson was one of the stars of the first round, going 4-0-0, with a 1.69 GAA, and .922 save percentage. If the Ducks can keep Colorado out of the high percentage scoring areas, they might be able to keep it close.

ESPN predicts second round results:
Colorado: 4
Anaheim: 1

Vegas: 4
Calgary: 2

Washington: 4
Philadelphia: 2

Florida: 4
Montreal: 2

[kinsmen7]

Ducks announce Game 1 lineup

Team sticks with what got them to this point

Comtois-Zegras-Terry
Henrique-Getzlaf-Smith
Milano-Lundestrom-Silfverberg
Jaskin-Groulx-Steel

Fowler-Drysdale
Hague-Manson
Sekera-Stralman

Gibson
Stolarz

Powerplay heating up? After an 0-10 start through 3 games, the Ducks went 2/8 on the PP in game 4 against Dallas. The powerplay didn't look particularly out of sorts at any point in the series.

PK benefitting from Groulx Benoit-Olivier Groulx was a surprise addition to the Ducks lineup for round 1, and played a pivotal role, mainly killing penalties for the Ducks. His play, alongside Isac Lundestrom helped limit the Stars chances through the series. Veterans Ryan Getlaf and Jakub Silfverberg also logged some serious PK minutes, but Groulx showed that he's an NHL ready body on the hockeys biggest stage.

[kinsmen7]

Breaking: World Juniors to re-start after Stanley Cup Finals

Holiday tradition was cancelled due to Covid

It looks like the Ducks pipeline will get their chance at Junior hockey glory after all. When the World Junior Hockey Championship was cancelled in January, it was a big blow to the potential development for a number of Ducks prospects.

The tournament, a catapult to the NHL for players like Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, will now occur immediately following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals, and will conclude prior to the NHL Entry Draft.

This will be a great final opportunity for scouts to get a look at some of the top draft eligible prospects in the game, potential first round picks like Simon Nemec, David Jiricek, Shane Wright, Joakim Kemell, among a number of others slated to play.

Barring injury, rosters submitted in December will remain the same for the tournament.

Ducks in the tournament:

USA: Ian Moore, Sasha Pastujov
Canada: Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger

Eligible, but not attending: Ducks GM Pat Verbeek immediately shut down any thoughts of potentially sending Jamie Drysdale if there was a spot on the Canadian team that opened up because of injury. "Jamie is an NHL defenceman, and has put a lot of miles on this year. We're hoping for a long playoff run, and he'll be getting a well deserved break when we're done."

[kinsmen7]

Ducks can't hold lead, fall to Avs in Game 1

Newhook scores two, Gibby struggles

Anaheim: 3 @ Colorado: 4

A rare poor performance from John Gibson, who allowed 4 goals on 18 shots allowed the Colorado Avalanche to jump to a 1-0 series lead.

A back and forth first two periods with goals from Reilly Smith, Alex Newhook, Jakub Silfverberg and Nazem Kadri had the game tied at 2-2 going into the third.

Two quick Avalanche goals, scored by Newhook and Andre Burakovsky gave the Avs a 4-2 lead, and while Cam Fowler scored late to get the Ducks within 1, it wasn't enough, as the Avalanche took game 1.

Right back at it: Game 2 goes tomorrow night in Colorado

Quotables: "Sometimes we rely on Gibby too much. We know how great he is, and he's always there for us, but when he struggles we need to step up for him." -Ducks assistant Captain Josh Manson

[kinsmen7]

Ducks bounce back, thump Avalanche in Game 2

Five different goal scorers for Ducks

The goal for the Ducks going in to game two was to leave Colorado with a split series, and they did just that.

Defenceman Connor Clifton, making his Ducks debut after playing 153 career games in a Bruins uniform, opened the scoring on his first shift, as the Ducks looked like a different team in game 2.

Trevor Zegras, Sonny Milano, Jamie Drysdale and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks, as they thumped the Avs 5-0.

It was a bounce back game for Ducks goaltender John Gibson, as he picked up his second shutout of the playoffs.

Heading to SoCal: Game 3 goes Monday night in Anaheim.

Quotables: "We knew we needed to come out of Colorado with a split. The young guys really stepped up tonight, and we know we're still in this." -Ducks Captain Ryan Getzlaf

[kinsmen7]

Ducks come back to take series lead

Zegras plays hero at home

Anaheim: 3 vs Colorado: 2

Isac Lundestrom tied the game early in the third, before Trevor Zegras put the Ducks on his back to give them a 2-1 series lead at home.

Gabriel Ladeskog, the Avalanche Captain, had put the Avs up 2-1 late in the second, after a period where they thoroughly dominated.

Lundestrom, not known for his goal scoring prowess, beat Erik Johnson wide, before roofing one on Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Zegras, a Calder trophy finalist, had been fairly quiet through the first 6 games of the playoffs, scoring only 1 goal, but came up clutch when it counted.

John Gibson made 19 saves on 21 shots.

Up next: Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Anaheim.

Quotables: "We weren't worried about Trevor's numbers. He has been buzzing around and creating a tonne of chances, and has been extremely responsible at both ends of the ice." -Ducks Coach Dallas Eakins