By: Chris Nosek

This will be a very underrated series where I can see a lot of folks not giving the Ducks a fighting chance. Those people would be dead wrong. People will point to the offensive power the Golden Knights have, and they’re right to do so. However, those who have watched the Ducks all season will know just how potent their offense is. The Ducks also shocked everyone when they added John Carlson to their blue line at the trade deadline. This gave that defensive unit a major boost that will continue to help their playoff run.

The Vegas Golden Knights just saw Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, and Ivan Barbashev post a point-per-game during their series against the Utah Mammoth. They also got strong performances from Mark Stone and timely goals from Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev. There is no doubt that Vegas is a strong offensive team. They also had consistent performances from Carter Hart.

However, while he was consistent, Hart did not receive much help from the defense in front of him. The overall structure of the defense in Vegas is a major concern. The team allowed Hart to face 27 high-danger chances, which is good for the seventh most of any goaltender in the first round. Hart had a .852 save percentage on those chances. Those numbers won’t hold against the Ducks. The Ducks’ offense has been significantly better this postseason, having already scored 26 goals in just 6 games. No team has more goals scored this postseason than the Ducks.

There are no worries about their offensive production or their ability to take advantage of the Golden Knights’ weak defensive lineup. The Ducks’ defense should also not be in question, as Jackson LaCombe has the best players thus far in the postseason. John Carlson has added crucial depth, as they have only had Radko Gudas for one game thus far. Carlson has been a value add both 5-on-5 and on the power play and is just shy of a point-per-game pace himself.

Like Vegas, the weakest part of the Ducks’ lineup has been in goal. With both teams having goaltenders struggling to keep the puck out of their nets, you should expect a high-scoring series. However, in the end, the Ducks have a stronger defensive unit, and Dostal has faced more high-pressure situations recently than Hart. His game seven performance was solid and will give him confidence to build on as they face Vegas.

Series Prediction: Anaheim Ducks advance in 6 games