BoC Gameday -- Could you be more Pacific?

Anaheim Ducks (23-20-7, t-10th in west) at San Jose Sharks (33-10-8, 1st in west), 7:30 pm
Anaheim Calling for Ducks, Fear The Fin for Sharks, and never forget PJ at Sharkspage.

Happy Hug Day, everyone!   I thought I'd start out today's post with a rather staggering-contrast table -- here's how Anaheim has performed this season against Pacific opponents vs. the rest of the league (hint: very badly).  They've won only 3 of 9 games against the Coyotes and Stars and 0 of 6 games against the intrastate Sharks and Kings.  And yeah, in case you're curious or vengeful, that hurts the ego quite a bit.

The Ducks playing outside the Pacific Division are 20-10-5.  That's better than the Stars (16-13-8), the Coyotes (16-15-2), the Kings (19-12-2), and not much worse than the Sharks (22-7-4). In fact, in terms of winning percentage, it's sixth-best in the league:

Record against non-Pacific Teams 2009-10 -- six best

But it's their record within the Pacific Division that's killing them.  Sad fact: the eastern-conference NY Rangers have as many points against Pacific Division opponents as the Ducks do -- eight.  In fact, the Ducks' divisional record ranks them 30th in the league; Anaheim would have made for a very good non-Pacific team this season, it seems:

Record within own division 2009-10 -- seven worst

Including tonight, the Ducks have nine more Pacific games to play, and notably, six more against the Sharks and Kings, where they've been outscored 24 to 9 in six previous BoC meetings.  Of course, the Sharks only play the Ducks once more after tonight; it's the four remaining SoCal games that should be very pivotal (if the Ducks show up, that is).

Bullies.

Pacific whining aside, the Sharks are an astoundingly-good team. 

* In their last 24 games, the Sharks have given up more than two goals only THREE times (twice to the Kings).

* In their last 10 games, the Sharks have given up more than one goal only THREE times (only once in their past six). 

Meanwhile, the still-injured Ducks have surrendered four goals in each of their past three games -- uh oh.

* * *

Prediction: It's Thursday night, so I won't be around for game comments -- play nice.  Ducks 4, Sharks 2.  Goals by Getzlaf, Ryan x2, and Chipchura.

Go Ducks.