Ducks win Pacific, ruin potential Battles of Alberta and California

Congrats to the Anaheim Ducks, who captured the Pacific Division with a 4-3 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night. Shea Theodore had the game-winner, but that wasn’t the most important goal of the night for Anaheim.

Nate Thompson’s first goal of the season, in his 30th game, tied the game 3-3 at the 11:34 mark of the third period. Ducks fans cheered at the final buzzer of regulation like their team just won, and they did: Their fifth straight division title, the previous four coming under Bruce Boudreau.

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Let’s face it: When Boudreau was canned and Randy Carlyle was hired (again), plenty of us thought the Ducks would take a step back. Instead, they win the division (with an 11-0-3 run no less) and have home ice in their first-round series against the Calgary Flames, who finished in the first wild card.

Oh, wait, that’s right: [Expletive] the Anaheim Ducks, whose Pacific Division title means that the Edmonton Oilers finished second. And that means that a potential Battle of Alberta between the Oilers and Flames in the first round was scuttled, as well as a Battle of California between the Ducks and the San Jose Sharks.

Instead, it’s the Ducks and the Flames with the Oilers meeting the Sharks in Round 1. Great, compelling matchups to be sure, but not the rivalry series slugfests we could have had.

Oh well, there’s always Round 2 …

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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