'DIRECT DIVISION'

ANAHEIM - The mighty Pacific is a challenge unto itself.
The pace? Preposterous.
The speed, skill and physicality on display, nightly, makes the mere ability to 'keep up,' the difference between wins, losses, and getting run out of the barn altogether.

"It's a very direct division," said former Duck Erik Gudbranson, who's making his first trip back to the Honda Center tonight. "One that defends hard, is tough to get to the net, get inside and in-zone on.
"And you really can't turn pucks over, because they're going to come back and jam it down your throat really quick.
"They've got some young guys who've made them a pretty good line-rush team, so puck management through the neutral zone, get below the tops of the circles and leaning on them like we're capable of doing, is a huge key for us.
"Their D men have a lot of goals. They provide a lot of offence and they're constantly in the rush, so managing them and being physical on them and making it a heavy game for them to get up 200 feet is going to be huge for us."
The Flames are coming off a 3-2 win over the L.A. Kings last night, and have another stiff test ahead of them in a back-to-back situation tonight. The Troy Terry-led Ducks have surprised many this year, displaying many of the same traits that others in this division do.
Calgary included.
They play an up-tempo style that puts an emphasis on possession and being quick in transition.
It allows their skill players to flourish, as we've seen with the 24-year-old Terry this year, who leads Anaheim with 25 points (15G, 10A) in 23 games.
They also have the ninth pick in the 2019 Draft, Trevor Zegras, making his mark in his first, full season as a pro, showing all sorts of flash, dash and mesmerizing puck skills, helping him sit third in team scoring with 17 points (6G, 11A) in 22 contests.
Sixteen of them have come in the last 16 games - leading all rookies in that department.

Then, as Gudbranson alluded to, there's that sparkling D corps.
Kevin Shattenkirk, Cam Fowler and young Jamie Drysdale lead the Ducks on the backend, scoring a combined 57 points and ranking fifth in scoring from the blueline.
With the Ducks having tallied 10 goals in their last two games, and with three or more per game in 18 of 24 overall, this is a dangerous team.
But so are the Flames.
Calgary sits on top of the Pacific with a 14-4-5 record for 33 points this year - four up on the supposedly re-building Ducks.
With this kind of offensive firepower on both sides, combined with the elite-level goaltending of either Jacob Markstrom or Dan Vladar, and Anaheim's John Gibson, we should be in for a treat tonight on the doorstep of Disneyland.
"I think it's effective everywhere in the NHL," Gudbranson said of playing the Ducks' top players hard tonight. "It's a physical sport and if you go into a game not expecting to make contact with guys, then it's going to make it a pretty easy night for your opponent.
"You have to be physical and from here on in, it's only going to get more physical - especially higher up in the division. These divisional games, it's mandatory that you've got to get physical with guys and especially skilled players, because there are guys that can make plays and they can score almost at will if you don't play them hard.
"That little bit of doubt in their minds is really good."

The Flames are 2-0-1 in back-to-back games this year. They've not only got the result they were seeking, but it's HOW they've done it.
Typically, the legs are a bit tired in these situations. The lungs feel a bit heavy and you might not be as sharp, mentally, as you normally would be coming off a day of rest.
That just hasn't been the case this year.
In fact, one could argue they've been even better in the back half, out-scoring their opponents 10-5 in three prior games with a tight turnaround.
Best of all, there's no travel fatigue to speak of this time, considering it was only a 30-minute drive from the Staples Center to the team hotel in Anaheim last night.
The players had a good meal and were comfortably in their rooms before midnight, getting a full night's rest and turning their attention to what should be a dandy in sunny SoCal.
"Guys have been good pros," Blake Coleman said of the team's game-day preparation. "Guys get what they need.
"Our staff gives us a good setup in the sense of giving us the tools we need to get our legs moving and our minds back into it. We've already had a meeting this morning and turned our focus from last night to today. It's about having a short-term memory in the sense that you've got a new opponent, new objectives, and (our coaching staff) keeps us on track with that.
"Coach (Darryl Sutter) a way of making every game feel like a must-win game, so it's no different tonight. It's a big one for us, a divisional game, and they're right on our heels.
"We want to create that space right now, so hopefully we stay on trend and keep it going back-to-back."