from Eric Stephens of the OC Register,

“If you look at the teams that make the playoffs, a lot of times you would say you’re out of it if you’re under .500 at Christmas time or even coming into the new year,” Vancouver winger Jannik Hansen said. “But I don’t think you can really say that any teams are out of it right now.

“You win three or four games and you’ve got home-ice advantage right now. And it definitely gives you a sense of hope.”

The Ducks have done just that. Three months of inconsistent and even underwhelming hockey at times will likely end their run of division titles at three. But a convincing 4-1 win over Winnipeg on Sunday was their fourth in five games, moving them into a playoff spot for the first time.

And they were thankful that other teams did not follow the lead of the Kings and go off into the distance while they started out 1-7-2 or were in last place at the league-wide holiday break with a 12-15-6 mark – which left them just four points out of third.

“When we were really struggling, it gave us hope that nobody was winning,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We kept saying, we’re still only this, we’re still only this. If it had been the Central Division and all of a sudden you’ve got to make up 14 points, it might have been a little different, more daunting task.

“We were always just out of range, even though we were not doing well.”

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