from Eric Stephens of the OC Register,

-- It is time to get boring.

The Ducks’ penchant for one-goal games and comebacks might make them the entertaining bunch but the capacity for great theater doesn’t bring home a Stanley Cup. Strict, unyielding play (here’s looking at you, defending champion Kings), strong goaltending and timely scoring is the recipe that usually makes for a long playoff run.

In other words, they’ve got to win 2-1 or 3-2 games. Or 1-0. The Ducks have to get serious about playing a disciplined brand of hockey, not in the sense of staying completely away from the penalty box but sticking to their system, supporting each other on the ice and playing a simple, if unglamorous game.

They’re not doing that right now. An undermanned lottery-bound Columbus team repeatedly got prime scoring chances in the second period and cashed them in, turning around a 2-1 deficit after the first 20 minutes. And this came after the 7-2 shellacking by the Rangers on Sunday.

“I think that’s when it comes to the playoffs, when you play against good teams, it’s really who makes more mistakes and who’s going to win from that,” winger Andrew Cogliano said. “We’re beating ourselves. It’s pretty obvious what we’re doing.”

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