from Mark Whicker of the LA Daily News,
If the Ducks don’t win tonight, the issue will be who, not where.
Rickard Rakell is the only top six forward with a plus-rating. He didn’t play in Game 5, might not play tonight.
The questions that Getzlaf seemed to escape in the first two rounds are gathering again. He has three assists and no goals in five games
But for all of Ryan Kesler’s purple hearts, he has one point in the series and hasn’t scored a goal since Game 3 of the Edmonton series.
Kesler usually compensates with defense, but Nashville’s top line has frolicked without much argument, and did so again Saturday with Johansen injured. In Game 4, Coach Randy Carlyle abandoned his custom of hunting line matchups, at the players’ request.
If all the Ducks had been as effective as 23-year-old Nick Ritchie and 21-year-old Brandon Montour, they’d be prepping for the Final by now.
The Ducks aren’t trailing because of goaltending. John Gibson’s save percentage is higher than Pekka Rinne’s, although Rinne has been his usual self in terms of puck-handling, whether it’s inside or outside the legal boundaries.
It’s Nashville’s bottomless jug of defensemen that is weighing heavily. Its top two pairs, Subban-Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis-Roman Josi, are averaging more than 20 minutes in this series in even-strength play alone. Those four play nearly five-sixths of the minutes and have totaled 11 points.
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