ANAHEIM, Calif. — One of the more prominent ingredients to a successful playoff team is experience. There is a common belief in hockey that teams need to lose in the playoffs first in order to break through. The Ducks, however, don’t appear to subscribe to that line of thinking.
Despite having the fifth youngest roster in hockey by average age, the Ducks aren’t playing how a young team that’s in its first playoffs in eight years normally would.
They’ve already knocked out the reigning back-to-back Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round. And through two games against the heavily playoff-experienced Vegas Golden Knights, the Ducks have looked like the better team in each game.
“The maturity of our team, that's what I've been most proud of,” Troy Terry said. “It's just how mature our team's been in some of these games, and the things that maybe plagued us during the regular season, I think we're really ratcheting down on a lot of this stuff and playing complete games.”
It feels like ages ago when the Ducks went 2-6-2 in their last 10 games of the regular season to limp into their first playoff appearance in eight years while playing their worst hockey of the season. But in reality, it’s only been three weeks.
Hot and cold streaks aren’t new to the Ducks.
They started the season 11-3-1, showing the rest of the league what this team may be capable of with their young stars starting to take the next steps in their development. In December, the Ducks experienced a “market correction” as head coach Joel Quenneville called it, going on a 2-11-2 stretch that included a nine-game winless streak.
The Ducks snapped the losing streak by going on a seven-game winning streak of their own to start a 27-game stretch when they went 20-6-1, putting themselves up five points in the Pacific Division with only 10 games to play. Then came the second market correction that ended the regular season.
The Ducks played a firewagon brand of hockey during the regular season that resulted in a high-octane offensive environment with little to no regard for defense. With the speed and offensive skill possessed by the young core of the Ducks, most of their games were spent skating up and down the ice, trading high-danger chances with their opponents.
It resulted in the Ducks having the third-best offense in terms of generating scoring chances (3.13 expected goals per 60 minutes according to Evolving Hockey), while simultaneously having the third-worst defense (3.05 expected goals against per 60 minutes according to Evolving Hockey).
It made for some entertaining hockey, but it led to a lack of consistency and was often the culprit for their highs and lows.
“This team had some growing pains that we had to go through, but all year long, we always said, ‘I just can't wait to get to the playoffs,’” Quenneville said. “I want to see how good these guys can be.”
But the Ducks have flipped the script in these playoffs, especially since Game 6 of the opening round.
“We were all well aware of what it would take to be successful in the playoffs,” Terry said. “Guys are just really doing whatever is necessary right now, whether it's taking a back seat offensively to make sure they're in the right positions defensively, or hitting or blocking shots, just all of that stuff.
“No one wants to be the guy not doing those little details right now, and that's a testament to our group.”
The past three games have arguably been the best defensive games the Ducks have played all season long.
In Game 6 of the first round, the Ducks played a tighter defensive structure and made an emphasis on blocking shots, getting sticks in passing lanes and clearing the front of the net. They held the Oilers to only two goals to close out the series, which was no easy task considering the Oilers scored the sixth-most goals in hockey this year and averaged 3.44 goals per game.
“Being a young team, too, especially the way that everyone's just bought into all of those little details, it's infectious, and it's been fun to be a part of,” Terry said.
And the Ducks have only gotten stronger defensively, too.
In the two games so far in their series against the Golden Knights, they’ve allowed two goals at five-on-five and an empty-netter in Game 1 and a power-play goal that ruined a shutout with only six seconds left in Game 2.
The Golden Knights aren’t as potent offensively as the Oilers are, but they still possess high-skilled stars in Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and Mark Stone.
“The little things, plays you make along the walls, or traffic at the net, or second and third opportunities there, clearing the front of our net,” Quenneville said. “I think everybody's comfortable, no matter who you are, whether you're old or you're young.
Puck battles, positioning in front of the net, blocking shots and getting sticks in passing lanes are all things that the Ducks struggled with at times throughout the regular season, and now it’s been the standard in these playoffs.
In terms of the analytics, the Ducks have allowed only 2.06 expected goals against per 60 minutes against the Knights in this second round, according to Evolving Hockey. It’s the second-lowest mark among teams in the second round.
“Maybe it's just the fact that in the playoffs, you have to be so present in games and you don't look forward to what your point totals are going to be, what you're going to have at the end of the year,” Alex Killorn said. “I think you're just really focused on that one game. Maybe that's helped us defend a little bit better and worry about just winning one game. I've been really impressed with the way the guys have played throughout 60 minutes.”
Sure, the Ducks have a few players with copious amounts of playoff experience, like Killorn, John Carlson and Chris Kreider, but it’s been the young guys driving the bus for this team through its first eight playoff games.
“We've got so many good players in here, but when you talk about maturity and experience, I think it's just winning those small plays and those 50-50s,” Jansen Harkins said. “They really add up throughout the course of a game and a series, throughout the season, especially. I think our younger guys have done a great job just knowing how important those are, these first two rounds.”
Jackson LaCombe has 10 points, played a key role in shutting down Connor McDavid in the first round and is showing that he can be a true number-one defenseman. He’s 25 years old.
Leo Carlsson has nine points, dazzled through defenders with his elite stickhandling and has played a responsible 200-foot game. He’s 21 years old.
After becoming the first Duck to score 40+ goals in a season in 12 years, Cutter Gauthier has kept his scoring pace these playoffs with four goals and seven points. He’s 22 years old.
Beckett Senecke has scored two big goals in critical moments of the game and has been a daunting presence on the ice despite the lack of points. He's 20 years old.
“You can really tell a lot about a player by how they play in the playoffs when the intensity is higher,” Killorn said. “Especially these guys that are going to be here for a while and a big part of this organization, they are our best players and that's what you need to win in the playoffs.”
The veterans are also contributing, too.
Terry has nine points and has always exhibited a stellar 200-foot game, which is translating well in his first crack at the postseason.
Mikael Granlund is earning the three-year $21 million contract he signed in the offseason by notching seven points so far.
Killorn, Kreider and Carlson all have six points and are being that calming veteran presence that the young guys need.
When you combine the star power of the young core with the right veterans, you get what the Ducks have done so far these playoffs. A team that outplayed and knocked off a team that just went to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with the two best players in the world and split the first two games on the road against another heavily battle-tested team while also controlling the play in both games.
“I would have to say, for sure, we're playing our best hockey that we've shown all year right now,” Quenneville said.
As the series now shifts to Anaheim for Game 3 on Friday night, the Ducks may now have an upper hand on the Knights. The Ducks are 27-13-4 at Honda Center this season, including a perfect 3-0 in the playoffs.
By splitting the games in Vegas in convincing fashion, the Ducks are in position to take the driver's seat in this series.
“Through a mix of leaders, obviously an experienced coaching staff, just all of that, I think you're just seeing a team kind of learning on the fly of what works, what doesn't work in playoffs, and how we need to play,” Terry said. “And that's kind of the exciting thing, I think we have a lot of room to even keep getting better.”