After losing, 4-2, to the St. Louis Blues on Monday, which snapped the club's nine-game home point streak, the Ducks find themselves on the outside looking in. As of now, the Ducks, with 80 points, sit two points behind LA for third place in the Pacific Division and two points behind Dallas and Colorado for the two wild card spots. But the Ducks have the least amount of regulation/overtime wins (ROWs) than any of the clubs they are trying to catch. The Calgary Flames are also tied in points with the Ducks, but have played one more game. Anaheim has 12 games remaining, seven of which are at home.
They face a Canucks team that remains near the bottom of the Western Conference standings with 59 points, two up on the Arizona Coyotes, who earned a 4-3 shootout victory last night over the Kings. Vancouver has two wins in its last 10 games (2-6-2) and has dropped four in a row, including a 3-0 loss to LA on Monday. Rookie sensation Brock Boeser will likely miss the remainder of the season after suffering a soft-tissue injury and a nonstructural, non-displaced fracture on the transverse process in his lower back. Boeser leads the Canucks in goals (29) and ranks second among NHL rookies with a team-leading 55 points. Vancouver's offense has dried up since Boeser's injury on March 5 vs. the New York Islanders. In the four games since his injury, the Canucks have scored three goals and have been shutout in their last two. Defenseman Chris Tanev could return to the lineup tonight after missing 15 games with a fractured leg. The 28-year-old blueliner has been limited to 38 games this season and has 11 points (2g/9a) over that span.
Could this be the last time Daniel and Henrik Sedin play at Honda Center? Both are 37 years old and unrestricted free agents at the end of this season. The twins have been nothing short of fantastic over the course of their long-storied careers, and they rank second and third on the team's scoring chart this season. Daniel has 21 goals and 47 points in 69 games this season, while Henrik has 43 points - 41 of which are assists. Both have amassed more than 1,000 points with the Canucks (Daniel has 391 goals, 642 assists and 1,033 points in 1,294 career games, while Henrik has 239 goals, 824 assists and 1,063 points in 1,318 career games).
This marks the penultimate contest of a four-game season series between the Ducks and Canucks, which has seen Anaheim win the first two meetings (4-1 on November 9 at Honda Center and 5-0 on January 2 at Rogers Arena). The Ducks are 47-38-19 vs. the Canucks all-time and 16-3-4 in the last 23 meetings. At Honda Center, the Ducks have gone 20-17-13 against the Canucks, including points in nine of the last 11 (7-2-2). Ryan Getzlaf leads the way with 47 points (13g/34a) in 48 career games against Vancouver and comes in riding an active five-game scoring streak against the Canucks dating to Oct. 23, 2016 (nine points, 2g/7a). Rickard Rakell has five points (1g/4a) and Josh Manson has five assists/points in their last three respective games vs. Vancouver. The series finale will conclude in 13 days at Rogers Arena on Tuesday, March 27.
