The Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks have seen their playoff hopes steadily drift away in the past couple of weeks.
Subpar play by the Ducks and Canucks, combined with a monumental surge by the St. Louis Blues, has left the Pacific Division rivals mopping up what’s left of their seasons heading into their final matchup Saturday afternoon in Vancouver.
The Canucks (34-28-13, 81 points) held the Western Conference’s second-wild card spot heading into a matchup in St. Louis on March 20, but the Blues won 4-3 in overtime to leapfrog Vancouver.
That was the Blues’ fourth straight win and they haven’t lost since, running their win streak to 11 straight with a 5-4 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
Coupled with Vancouver’s current three-game losing streak, the Canucks find themselves eight points out of the second wild-card spot now occupied by the Minnesota Wild. The good news? The Wild also lost three in a row heading into their Friday night matchup at the New York Islanders.
“We’ve got to pick ourselves back up and get back into the fight,” said Canucks forward Elias Pettersson.
The Ducks (33-34-8, 74 points) had a couple of chances to get within four points of a playoff spot last month, but lost to the Blues twice in nine days and that helped lead to their postseason elimination with a 4-1 loss Thursday night at the Calgary Flames.
Anaheim has not made the playoffs since 2018, but will finish with one of the most improved point totals in the NHL this season. The Ducks managed just 59 points last season.
“As much as it’s disappointing (getting eliminated), I think from the big picture we took a step in the right direction,” said Ducks captain Radko Gudas. “You can see the guys here that are young and want to get better. They want to get better every game we play. I thought for us, obviously not a successful year because of (missing) the playoffs, but I think it was a step in the right direction for the organization and the future is going to be bright if we can keep this group together.”
The Ducks would like to finish off their two-game Canadian swing with a better effort against the Canucks.
Anaheim seemed to lose its legs Tuesday after the first period of a 4-3 shootout win against the visiting San Jose Sharks — and that seemed to carry over to the game in Calgary.
“We looked a little tired or something, not really competing like we need to be,” Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger said. “Obviously, because of that, we’re giving up way too many chances against. There were a few good moments throughout the game, but overall we have to be way better, way more competitive and complete. It’s unfortunate, our effort in that game.”
The Canucks could be without defenseman Tyler Myers, who did not play the final 11:47 of the third period in Wednesday’s 5-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
“He got banged up,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. “He wanted to keep going, but I shut him down.”
–Field Level Media
