Injury-Depleted Anaheim Ducks Must Find Depth Moving Forward
By Kayla Demint
@kaylademint
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Last season, the Anaheim Ducks were a team known for absolute dominance on home ice, which is a stark contrast to a now struggling Ducks team that has lost its last four home games, including the last three straight games of a four-game homestand. It doesn’t help that the Anaheim roster is pretty depleted at this point, currently without Ben Lovejoy, Mark Fistric, John Gibson, Cam Fowler, Francois Beauchemin and superstar Corey Perry.
The Ducks’ last three games were all lost in extra time, with an overtime loss to the New York Islanders and shootout losses to both the Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks. The only upside is that the Ducks were able to grab a point in each game, allowing them to stay near the top of the NHL league standings with 23 points in 16 games. Currently, the Tampa Bay Lightning also have 23 points, though in only 15 games.
Obviously, one major part of the equation has been gone with Perry missing the last three straight games with an illness. He is currently on pace to have another 50-goal season and without him, the Ducks have struggled to put up points as his offensive power just cannot be matched. Anaheim currently has him on injured reserve, though he could be back as early as Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings.
This is definitely the situation Anaheim hopes for as Wednesday’s contest will be the first freeway faceoff of the season against the Kings, who beat them in the second round of the playoffs last season. The Ducks are going to have to show a lot more depth and figure out a way to start winning again in order to stay on top, or trouble lies ahead.
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