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BoC Gameday -- Could you be more Pacific?

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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.

OPPONENT GP ANA Record +GF -GA = GD PP% PK%
Phoenix 5 2-1-2 +2.4 -2.8 = -0.4 18.5% 78.6%
Dallas 4 1-3-0 +2.5 -3.8 = -1.3 0.0% 78.6%
San Jose 4 0-4-0 +1.5 -4.0 = -2.5 21.1% 68.8%
Los Angeles 2 0-2-0 +1.5 -4.0 = -2.5 11.1% 90.9%
Pacific Division 15 3-10-2 +2.1 -3.5 = -1.4 16.4% 78.2%
Rest of League 35 20-10-5 +3.1 -2.9 = +0.2 22.0% 80.6%

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

Team GP W-L-O WinPct.
Chicago 39 30-6-3 .808
San Jose 33 22-7-4 .727
Washington 46 30-10-6 .717
New Jersey 44 31-12-1 .716
Buffalo 45 28-11-6 .689
Anaheim 35 20-10-5 .643

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

Team GP W-L-O WinPct.
Carolina 13 5-7-1 .423
NY Islanders 13 5-7-1 .423
Columbus 13 3-6-4 .385
Toronto 15 3-7-5 .367
NY Rangers 12 3-7-2 .333
Edmonton 16 4-10-2 .313
Anaheim 15 3-10-2 .267

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).

Pacificbullies_medium
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.