Pacific Division Playback: January 5th – January 11th

Dec 31, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the Los Angeles Kings hockey sticks before the game between the Dallas Stars and the Kings at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Kings 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the first installment of the Pacific Division Playback, a weekly feature where we take a look back at what went down in the Pacific Division over the last week. For today’s post we look at the Pacific Division action between January 5th and January 11th, the first full week of 2014.

In the table above you can the standings in the division as of the 11th. In the weeks that follow we will track the movements of each team. At the moment the Anaheim Ducks have been the creme of the crop both in the Division and the entire NHL, sitting atop the Pacific with 73 points. San Jose and Los Angeles round out the top three and the three guaranteed playoff spots in the Pacific. However, Vancouver is not far behind in fourth place just two points out of third and five points out of second.

The Phoenix Coyotes sit in no mans land, not quite in playoff contention and not quite at the bottom of the barrel, where the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have sat for much of the season.

Now lets take a team by team look at how the last week of play panned out.

Anaheim Ducks

Jan 11, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry (10) in action against the Phoenix Coyotes in the first period at Jobing.com Arena. The Ducks win 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

The Ducks have been unstoppable this season, and that trend continued through last week. Anaheim went 4-0-0, winning two games at home and two games on the road over that time.

The Ducks opened the week with two wins at home, the first a 4-3 overtime victory over the Canucks and the second a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins. Those two wins pushed the Ducks’ home record to a ridiculous 18-0-2. The Ducks closed out the week with wins on the road against the Nashville Predators, a 4-3 game and a 5-3 win in the Desert against the Coyotes.

San Jose Sharks

Jan 9, 2014; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (19) yells to a team mate during the first period of the game against the Detroit Red Wings at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Sharks started off the week on a very high note. They had two games of a three game road trip to go before returning to San Jose for their next two games. The Sharks traveled to Chicago and beat the Blackhawks in a shootout by a score of 3-2. However, just two days later the Sharks finished out their road trip with a disappointing 3-2 loss to the lowly Nashville Predators.

The Sharks’ roller coaster of a week continued when they returned to Northern California opening their home stand with a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings, but followed that win up by getting shutout by the Boston Bruins 1-0. Overall the Sharks went 2-2-0 this week and grabbed four out of a possible eight points.

Los Angeles Kings

January 11, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) defends the goal against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Kings had three games this week, all of which were apart of a five-game home stand that started last week and will conclude tomorrow night. Overall the Kings have to be disappointed with the outcome of the last week’s games. The Kings went 1-1-1 only getting three of a possible six points. But six out of six was a definite possibility for Los Angeles.

The Kings opened the week with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild, a game where they faced an inexperienced goalie and controlled much of the game but still came up short. The Kings rebounded against the Boston Bruins with a 4-2 victory. The momentum from that win carried over to the Kings’ final game of the week against the Red Wings, but much like the Wild game, the Kings came up short in a 3-1 loss despite dictating much of the play.

Vancouver Canucks

Jan 10, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Mike Santorelli (25) during the second period against the St. Louis Blues at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Canucks’ fans got plenty of free hockey over the last week with two of Vancouver’s three games needing extra time to decide a winner. However, the Canucks came out on the wrong side of both of those games pushing them to a 1-0-2 record over the last week. Luckily the Canucks got a point in each of those loses, so this week wasn’t a total bust  as they grabbed three out of six points.

Vancouver started off their week with their two overtime losses, the first coming on the road in Anaheim and the second two days later at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canucks finished out the week on a high note with their only win of the week against the St. Louis Blues.

Phoenix Coyotes

Jan 7, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Michael Stone (26) celebrates with right wing David Moss (18) and center Kyle Chipchura (24) after scoring a goal in the third period against the Calgary Flames at Jobing.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The Coyotes were at home last week for three games, two of which were against Pacific Division Rivals. Phoenix went 1-2-0 over the course of those games, grabbing only two of a possible six points.

Phoenix opened the week with a 6-0 rout of the Flames, creating a little more distance between the two teams in the standings. The rest of the week was not as bright for the Desert Dogs, as they lost to the Wild 4-1 and the Ducks 5-3.

Calgary Flames

Jan 9, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano (5) before the game against the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

The Flames had a week they would probably like to forgot. They had four games and went 1-3-0 in those games, a span of hockey where they were outscored 16-5.

Calgary opened the week with their only win, a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Everything went downhill from there for the Flames as they lost to the Coyotes by a score of 6-0, and then got shutout by the Blues 5-0. The Flames played better in their last game of the week but the outcome was the same as they lost a close 2-1 game against the Penguins.