The Anaheim Ducks have been eliminated from the playoffs and the Colorado Avalanche are locked into their seed, so Sunday night’s matchup in Anaheim, Calif., will have no impact on the Western Conference standings.
The game remains meaningful for young players trying to get a footing in the NHL. Anaheim (35-36-8, 78 points) is missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season, the third-longest drought in the league.
This season was a jump for the Ducks, who have 19 more points than last year — with three games left — and won 35 games for the first time since 2018-19. Anaheim has seven players on the roster who are 23 or younger, and six more who have yet to celebrate their 26th birthdays.
These last three games are not meaningless to them — or the Ducks.
“We’re trying to build on an identity,” coach Greg Cronin said. “It’s a different game, it’s a different pace, it’s a different intensity. So it’s critical that they go through these type of games. It’s going to help in the long run.
“These are the games we’ve got to get comfortable playing. And you can measure yourself. Your compete level. Your decisions with the puck. All those things that are part of a playoff environment.”
One of those youngsters, 22-year-old Mason McTavish, is second on the team with 50 points (21 goals, 29 assists), and 20-year-old Leo Carlsson is third with 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists).
Veteran Troy Terry leads Anaheim with 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists).
Colorado (48-29-4, 100 points) won’t put its best players on the ice in its final game of the regular season. The team’s top two scorers, Nathan MacKinnon (116 points) and Cale Makar (92), as well as Devon Toews, didn’t make the trip to Southern California.
Ryan Lindgren (upper body), Ross Colton (undisclosed), Jonathan Drouin (lower body) and Josh Manson (upper body) also stayed home this weekend.
Drouin will have missed the final six games while Manson, who has been plagued by injuries this season, has not played since March 14.
MacKinnon chose to rest over chasing the Art Ross Trophy while Makar will finish the season as the top scoring defenseman in the NHL. Makar is the first defenseman to score 30 goals since Mike Green in 2008-09 and just the ninth defenseman in NHL history to reach that mark.
He also set the franchise record for points by a defenseman in a season.
“Yeah, 30 goals by a defenseman is insane,” said Lindgren, who was acquired from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline. “I used to only see him twice a year. You see the highlights, but then coming here and actually playing with him and seeing what he does on a nightly basis — I don’t want to say it’s not surprising that’s he able to do that, but I guess it kind of is. He just creates so much every night. It’s pretty cool to see.”
–Field Level Media
