MORE: First-round playoff schedules | Fatal flaws for all 16 teams
Season record: 51-24-7, 109 points
Standing: First in the Pacific Division, first in the Western Conference. The Ducks and St. Louis Blues finished with identical records, but Anaheim got the edge with the total wins tiebreaker.
Clinched: March 28
Coach: Bruce Boudreau (regular season: 363-167-69; playoffs: 27-30)
Captain: Ryan Getzlaf
Alternates: Corey Perry, Francois Beauchemin
SERIES PREVIEWS: Canucks-Flames | Ducks-Jets | Blues-Wild | Predators-Blackhawks
Players to watch: Getzlaf and Perry seemed joined at the hip, having been the pillars of the franchise since their arrival. Boudreau decided to rest Getzlaf, his captain, in two of the final three games. He should be healthy and ready to go. “It hasn’t happened in the last couple of years and we want to make sure it does happen this year,” Boudreau told media members, including The Los Angeles Times. “He’s our straw that stirs the [drink] and when he’s on top of his game, everything else follows suit and everyone else follows suit,” Boudreau said.
Perry reached 30 goals for the fifth time in his career. And Ryan Kesler, once a pariah in Anaheim, made the transition to deepen the Ducks’ forward talent.
Goaltender: Frederik Anderson was 35-12-5 with three shutouts. 3has a .914 save percentage and 2.38 goals-against average. He’ll be the go-to goalie, although John Gibson got heavy use down the stretch. An injury in practice last week appears minor, but watch Gibson as the series goes on.
Playoff history: This is the Ducks’ third consecutive appearance and 11th in 21 seasons.
Championships: The Ducks won the cup in 2007 over the Ottawa Senators and made an appearance in the 2003 Final.
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First-round schedule (*-if necessary; all times ET):
April 16, Ducks 4, Jets 2 April 18, 10:30 p.m. at Anaheim; NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVA Sports April 20, 9 p.m. at Winnipeg; Sportsnet, TVA Sports, NBCSN April 22, 9:30 p.m. at Winnipeg; Sportsnet, TVA Sports, USA *April 24, TBD at Anaheim; Sportsnet *April 26, TBD at Winnipeg; Sportsnet *April 28, TBD at Anaheim; Sportsnet
SERIES PREVIEWS: Rangers-Penguins | Canadiens-Senators | Capitals-Islanders | Lightning-Red Wings
Cassandra Negley is a contributor at Sporting News. She’s currently the sports editor at the Thomasville Times-Enterprise in Georgia and writes for the Mets blog, Rising Apple. You can follow her on Twitter, @casnegley.
