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Undoubtedly, the Anaheim Ducks feel energized after their 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. It was a way to bounce back from a horrific performance against the New York Islanders, as well as a way for the team to showcase their abilities. With this being, technically speaking, their second road win in a row, the Ducks may be tempted to be over-confident in the future. This would be a huge error.
Make no mistake, a 4-1 win is great, but it is worth pointing out some things about the victory. Firstly, some of the goals were pure luck, namely one goal that came from the puck ricocheting off of Shawn Horcoff. Another goal was the result of goalie Eddie Lack failing to secure the five-hole against Carl Hagelin. The fourth and final goal was an empty-netter by Ryan Getzlaf. The fact is many shots missed their mark (the ‘Canes led the shots-on-goal count) and big scoring opportunities were often wasted.
Stating these facts about the game is not an attempt to be negative, but rather to give the Ducks a reality check. Throughout the season Anaheim has struggled to give truly consistent performances on all fronts. A lot of that has to do with, at least very likely, a poor mental attitude. This mental attitude causes the team to get careless and not keep up the pressure throughout the entire game. It is an attitude that allows the defense to give up big plays and force the goalie to do all of the work. Finally, this mindset causes players to take bad penalties and force numerous stressful penalty kill situations.
So yes, Anaheim should be glad that they won this game. They should also remember that they are far behind in the Pacific division and still have numerous holes in their play. Perspective is everything in this game, and to have a chance at the playoffs the Ducks ought to remember that going forward.
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