It would be hard to blame the Anaheim Ducks if they come out a little sluggish Tuesday.
They might have been too excited to sleep the previous night.
Anaheim (42-32-6, 90 points) clinched its first playoff berth in eight years during an off day Monday, thanks to the San Jose Sharks’ win over the Nashville Predators. But before heading to the postseason, the Ducks have two more games left in the regular season, starting with Tuesday’s tilt against the Minnesota Wild (45-24-12, 102 points) in Saint Paul, Minn.
Like Anaheim, Minnesota knows it is playoff bound. The Wild are locked into the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference’s Central Division, and they will face the No. 2 seed Dallas Stars.
Tuesday marks the regular-season finale for the Wild, and the outcome will have zero effect on their playoff series starting in Dallas.
At least, that is true in terms of the win-loss outcome. Players’ individual performances in Tuesday’s game could mean a lot in the finale and help coach John Hynes determine who will skate and which lines they will be part of during the playoff opener.
“There’s a lot at stake for some guys,” Hynes said.
Veteran forward Michael McCarron said he and his teammates needed to play with urgency.
“We’re trying to build something in our locker room to go win a Stanley Cup, and we’ve got to bring it every single night,” McCarron said. “We’ve got to find the cohesion in our group to go on a long run, and it starts with these games, especially down the stretch.”
Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville also may use his team’s last couple games of the regular season as an opportunity for players to make final arguments for why they belong on the ice in the postseason instead of watching the game as healthy scratches.
One player Quenneville does not need to analyze further is forward Cutter Gauthier, who turned 22 years old in January and has scored 40 goals this season. Gauthier said it meant a lot to reach 40 goals but he had other objectives in mind.
“It’s a huge milestone and something I’m very proud of,” Gauthier said. “I couldn’t have done it without all my linemates and teammates. It was fun to get that, but that’s not why I’m playing hockey. I’m playing hockey to win games and eventually win a Stanley Cup.”
The Wild could start either Filip Gustavsson or Jesper Wallstedt in net. Gustavsson is 28-15-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage, and Wallstedt is 17-9-6 with a 2.63 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
Gustavsson is 6-1-0 with a 1.87 GAA and a .935 save percentage in eight career games against Anaheim. Wallstedt has a shutout victory in his only career game against the Ducks.
Anaheim’s options in net include Lukas Dostal and Ville Husso. Dostal is 30-19-4 with a 3.10 GAA and an .889 save percentage, and Husso is 9-8-2 with a 3.21 GAA and an .887 save percentage.
In seven games against Minnesota, Dostal is 1-4-1 with a 3.33 GAA and a .907 save percentage. Husso is 6-0-0 with a 2.43 GAA and a .923 save percentage in six matchups.
