NHL: Ducks closing in on division title, but can't overlook Canucks

The Anaheim Ducks aim to move closer to their first Stanley Cup playoff berth in eight years when they visit the Vancouver Canucks to start a three-game Canadian swing on Tuesday night.

The Ducks (39-27-4, 82 points) have earned points in their past four games (3-0-1), giving them a four-point lead atop the Pacific Division with 12 games remaining. Anaheim hasn’t reached at least 82 points in a season since their last playoff appearance in 2017-18.

“We’ve been dying to play in these games,” Ducks forward Troy Terry said after scoring the overtime goal in a 6-5 victory against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Anaheim has been finding ways to earn points in dramatic fashion. They scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:30 remaining in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens on March 15, netted the tying goal with 1:54 left against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday before losing 3-2 in overtime, and scored the tying goal with 1:44 remaining on Sunday against the Sabres before Terry secured the overtime win.

During the same 3-0-1 stretch, the Vegas Golden Knights went 1-3-0, the Edmonton Oilers 2-2-0, the Los Angeles Kings 1-2-1, the Seattle Kraken 1-3-0, and the San Jose Sharks 0-4-0.

“We want to make sure that we’re moving ahead,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think we helped ourselves in the last two games by earning points in tough spots, and some of the things that were going on in our division worked in our favor.”

Anaheim will try to take advantage of a Vancouver team that hasn’t won more than two in a row since just before the Christmas break, though the Canucks have beaten the Ducks in both previous meetings this season.

“It’s March, and every point, every game matters, especially with the tight race,” Terry said. “We’re trying to stay in the moment and relish being in those moments and, hopefully, keep learning along the way.”

The Canucks (21-40-8, 50 points) most recently fell 3-1 to the visiting St. Louis Blues on Saturday, another team already eliminated from playoff contention. Vancouver didn’t show much life until scoring a power-play goal 8:32 into the third period.

Marco Rossi assisted on Filip Hronek’s goal, extending his point streak to five games (three goals, seven assists).

“We were really disconnected in the first and second periods. In the third period, we were skating, winning battles, everything opened up,” Rossi said. “We have to stay positive, learn from that, and it’s got to be a full 60 minutes—not just 20 or 30.”

Heading into the second-to-last game of an eight-game homestand, Vancouver has struggled on home ice this season, posting an 8-23-5 record at Rogers Arena, already a team record for regulation losses at home.

“I think we play too cute,” Rossi added. “We play too much on the outside and we’re not going enough into the inside, the dirty areas. That’s missing in our game.”

The Canucks have been limited to two goals or fewer in five of their past seven games and rank second-to-last in the NHL, averaging 2.52 goals per game.

“We have to put more pucks on net and try to create chaos,” Hronek said.

—Field Level Media/Reuters