Ducks @ Avalanche, Game 71 Preview

After what started to be a strong and surprising second-half run for the playoffs, the Anaheim Ducks finds itself in the role of spoiler instead of Cinderella now. They have a 4-6-0 record in the last ten with one of those losses coming at the hands of the Avalanche to the tune of 4-1. The Avs, on the other hand, have fared well, going 7-3-0 in the same span.

Despite getting the much needed two points, Colorado is going to have to do better than the performance we saw on Saturday afternoon. Allowing games to go to the shoot out could bite them in the end as ROWs have the advantage in tiebreakers. It's such a simple word. Let's hope the boys pick it up faster than the chubby one.

Who's Hot

In the past 5 games...

Jamie McGinn - 6 points (4g, 2a)

Peter Mueller - 5 points (1g, 4a)

Paul Stastny - 4 points (1g, 3a)

Semyon Varlamov - .943 save percentage, 1.6 GAA

Who's Not

Ryan O`Reilly - Radar has only one goal in the past 5 games. He seems to be struggling out there to find his groove. Hopefully this is just a bit of regression and not a harbinger of things to come

Gabriel Landeskog - The kid has been guilty of some uncharacteristic rookie mistakes lately. Has he finally hit that rookie wall? He's played 70 games this season, putting him 2 games past the mark of a regular season in the OHL.

Erik Johnson - The star defenseman has not registered a single point since February 24th. If the Avalanche are going to make the playoffs, he needs to step up, especially on the power play.