The Anaheim Ducks are in town to face the Dallas Stars for the second time this season. It’s promising to be another rocky and aggressive affair, but the Stars must find a way to snag two points before hitting the road.
12 minutes. That’s how many penalty minutes were handed out after the final horn had sounded on Feb. 21 in a matchup between the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks. If you were watching the game, you may be surprised that there weren’t more.
Penalty minutes after a game? What kind of event constitutes something as crazy as that? Well, two teams that really dislike each other can usually find a way to make it happen. That’s what we saw between the Stars and Ducks.
Dating back to the days as rivals in the Pacific Division and coming to a climax in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Dallas and Anaheim have been butting heads for a while. There’s some sort of lingering hatred between the two teams, regardless of how the rosters look with each new season. That’s exciting and almost always leads to heightened emotions. On top of that, the standings really don’t matter either. Even if one team is near the top and the other is near the bottom, there’s still enough bad blood to make the game energetic.
In the past four games between the Stars and Ducks, there have been a combined 80 penalty minutes. If you go back to the 2014 playoffs, you might have to get out a calculator.
Dallas Stars
Back in the Western Conference quarterfinals of 2014, the Stars and Ducks were at opposite ends of the hemisphere. The Ducks had won their second straight Pacific Division title and claimed the no. 1 seed, while the Stars had qualified for the dance in game 81 and squeaked in as a wild card team.
But that first round series was one for the ages. Pure rage flared between the two clubs and left plenty of disagreements on the ice. And things have been different ever since.
That will likely apply to tonight’s game as well. The Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks are set to duke it out at 7:30 p.m. at the American Airlines Center. It is their second meeting of the season, with the Ducks taking a 2-0 shutout on Feb. 21.
Though the Stars outshot the Ducks 41-17, Anaheim found a way to seal off the 2-0 win. That led to frustration in both ends and helped spark some extra rage and anger. This rage and anger will be waiting on the ice in Dallas on Friday night.
But it won’t be present simply because of the history of these two teams. A lot of the raw emotion present will be due to the one thing on the minds of most Western Conference teams right now: the playoff push.
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The Ducks (34-22-12) currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division with 80 points in 68 games. The Stars (37-24-6) sit just below them in the first wild card spot with 80 points in 67 games.
Both teams are coming off of a loss to the Nashville Predators and are looking to enhance their security in the race. But as we know, only one team can leave fully satisfied.
It’s a valuable two points on the line for both teams, and there’s a real sense of urgency as the regular season closes in on its end. With that being said, both teams could and should be prepared to do whatever is necessary to secure the win.
For the Stars, a loss could be critical. Dallas owns a measly two-point lead over the first team outside the playoff picture (being the Colorado Avalanche). A loss could lead to the Stars being out of the playoff picture completely by Sunday morning. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
The Dallas Stars are in a good spot at the moment, but one off game could put them in trouble. Not to mention that they will be looking to score their first goal of the season on Anaheim.
For the Ducks, they are in a similar position. Anaheim sits in third in the Pacific Division, but has Los Angeles and Calgary trailing close behind. A win could propel them into second place in the division, while a loss has the potential to bump them back to the wild card spot. So both teams want and need this game.
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As another exciting chapter is installed in this budding hatred, don’t forget the postseason implications that tonight’s game carries. Between the extra physicality and knuckle-tossing, there’s an underlying theme. It’s simply the biggest game of the season until the next one. And with a six-game road trip on tap, getting every precious point at home is necessary.
Let’s see who wants it more tonight. Time to dig in for another fight.