Ducks Gameday—I would kill for a 5-on-4 goal

Phoenix Coyotes (5-7-0, t-14th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (6-8-2, t-7th in west)

Stat of the Day: The Ducks have scored as many 5-on-4 goals in England (3 in 2 games) as they have in North America (3 in 14 games). And don’t get deceived by that latter stat—2 of those goals came within their first three games back.

In the last month, the Ducks have played 11 games (8 at home) and played more than 93 minutes of 5-on-4 hockey. In that time, they have scored only one goal (and gave up a shorthanded goal to offset it). Lately, a one-man advantage has meant no advantage at all.

That 5-on-4 scoring rate (0.64 G/hr) is atrocious. Using numbers from those same last 11 games:

• It's worse than their 5-on-5 scoring rate (1.54 G/hr)
• It's worse than their 4-on-4 scoring rate (6.22 G/hr)
• It's even wore than their 4-on-5 scoring rate (0.84 G/hr), if you can believe it.

I've even removed empty-net goals scored, or the differences would be more severe. Their one salvation has been 5-on-3 production (38.10 G/hr), but those instances have been fairly infrequent.


Carlyle's 5-on-4 gameplan
Here's my last depressing stat of the day. Take a look at Anaheim's goal-scoring leaders after 16 games. Perry has 8 goals, Kunitz has 5, Getzlaf has 4, McDonald has 2, and 14 players each have 1. Extrapolated to 82 games, that will mean the Ducks' fourth-highest goal scorer will have 10. Maybe more pressingly, the team projects at this point to a woeful 169 goals. And Getzlaf and Perry, the guys that need to be re-signed next summer, project to have scored 62 of those goals.

Sigh. Something's gotta give.

Prediction: I guess if there's a bright side to the Ducks' last outing, so far this month there have been five Pacific-vs-Pacific match-ups, home teams are 0-5 and getting outscored 23-5. So at least that suckage is offsetting. Ducks buck the trend tonight and get a win at home. Ducks 5, Coyotes 3. Goals by Beauchemin, Mowers, Pahlsson, and 5-on-4 goals by Pronger and Perry.

Go Ducks.