ANAHEIM — Four-point swings aren’t quite what they used to be.
Old days: A game between the Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks meant bragging rights in the regular season in the Western Conference.
New times: A contest involving the Ducks and Blackhawks meant a result could impact the race to the bottom, also known as the Connor Bedard Derby. Of course, last place overall doesn’t automatically ensure the right to pick first in the draft – due to the draft lottery – but a team’s odds are meaningfully enhanced by finishing 32nd.
So how about those standings?
Columbus still holds down the last spot overall with 44 points but ‘gained’ more separation in the standings when the Ducks defeated the Blackhawks, 4-2, on Monday night at Honda Center, with the hosts winning their third straight game. The Ducks and Chicago each have 47 points but the Ducks have played 61 games, two more than the Blackhawks. The result snapped Chicago’s five-game winning streak.
Scoring for the Ducks: Isac Lundestrom (fourth of the season), Jakob Silfverberg (ninth), Max Jones (fifth) and Troy Terry (16th), with Terry adding an assist. Ducks rookie center Mason McTavish added three assists, and rookie goaltender Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for his third win of the season. Defenseman John Klingberg had the primary assist on Silfverberg’s goal, giving him nine points in his past nine games.
The game-winner was from Jones, who broke the 2-2 tie, scoring with 17.5 seconds remaining in the second period and Terry scored the only goal in the third, converting a slick backhander from a sharp angle at 8:15.
The Ducks’ only other three-game winning streak this season was in late January. Earlier in the day, Terry pointed to things he saw in last week’s victory in Washington, which started the current run for the Ducks.
“As a team, we’re still fighting,” he said. “We’re still kicking. When you’ve got guys fighting Tom Wilson and (Dylan) McIlrath and you’ve got Nathan Beaulieu jumping in front of an Alex Ovechkin one-timer. That type of stuff – we may be where we are in the standings – but we’re all playing for something and we’re too close a group not to battle for each other.
“That game was a good reminder of that and set us up for the next game.”
Chicago was without franchise icons Jonathan Toews, who is dealing with symptoms of long COVID-19 and Patrick Kane (roster management), and earlier in the day, defenseman Jake McCabe and depth forward Sam Lafferty were traded (along with future draft picks) in a package to the Toronto Maple Leafs for two players and two future picks. One of those players, Joey Anderson, the older brother of Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson, traveled to Anaheim and played against the Ducks, on the fourth line.
How thin were the Blackhawks on experience? Two forwards in their top nine had played a combined nine games in the NHL, counting Monday night’s contest.
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