Essentially, there should be three categories for the Ducks’ 22 remaining games.
Home games: 15.
Road game: seven.
Bedard-related contests: six.
At this point, it looks as if there are six teams in the Connor Bedard Derby, as in the race to finish at the bottom of the NHL standings and secure the best odds to win the league’s draft lottery and the chance at selecting a generational talent.
On Sunday, there were seven points separating six teams, No. 27 (Vancouver) and No. 32 (Columbus). Montreal could easily be a seventh team, but the Canadiens have 54 points, three ahead of the Canucks and 10 ahead of the Blue Jackets.
That’s a lot of ground — even allowing for a historic swoon — to make up as teams approach the final quarter of the season.
The Ducks, having secured five of a possible eight points on their just-completed, four-game trip, are 31st, one point ahead of the Blue Jackets and two behind the Chicago Blackhawks. The Ducks have three games remaining against the Canucks, one against the Blue Jackets, one against the Arizona Coyotes and one against the Blackhawks.
Chicago is worth highlighting because it happens to be the Ducks’ next opponent, on Monday night at Honda Center, and the second-to-last game before the league’s trade deadline on Friday.
The Ducks play Montreal on Friday night, and it will be fascinating to see who isn’t (and who is) in the lineup, starting with pending unrestricted free agent John Klingberg. Of note, the defenseman’s offensive game has ticked up as the deadline approaches, with eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past eight games.
MILESTONES
Cam Fowler’s second-period assist on Troy Terry’s goal in the Ducks’ 3-2 win at Carolina on Saturday night happened to be Fowler’s 400th career point (90 goals, 310 assists) in 871 games. Not only did he become the first defenseman in team history (all points with the Ducks) to hit that mark, he was also the first D-man from the 2010 draft to reach…
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