With each win or overtime loss at home, the 2013-14 Anaheim Ducks extend their franchise record points streak at Honda Center, but all good things must come to an end
The Anaheim Ducks have really rebounded strongly after a 5-game losing streak in November against Florida, Tampa, Carolina, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh.
Since that streak, which saw the Ducks lose their stranglehold on their dominance over the division, conference, and league lead the Ducks have roared back to post a 35-8-5 record, winning 17 of their last 18 games played and continuing their dominance at Honda Center with a 19-0-2 record at home.
Jonas Hiller during pregame warmups
Goaltender Jonas Hiller has been a large part of this run as he has been setting out to make history of his own with a 14 straight wins streak (second best in NHL history and 3 shy of the most ever). No other team has such an impressive run or prevented their first loss in regulation at home, with the Pittsburgh Penguins with the second best record at home (19-3-0).
That mark is the 5th longest home points streak from the start of a season in 41 years (the 1980 Philadelphia Flyers got points in a remarkable 26 straight games, the Ducks are 5 games shy of equaling this number). As a result the Ducks sit atop the league standings with 75 points, a 5 point advantage over second place Chicago who have played the same number of games. Pittsburgh trails with 68 points and one fewer game played (a win would advance them to the same position as the Blackhawks). Only St. Louis stands to challenge the Ducks right now for league supremacy as they have 67 points in 44 games played. Assuming they win out their 4 games in hand, their point totals would equal Anaheim’s torrid run.
So, who (if anyone) can bring an end to Anaheim’s historic run at home? There is no question that Honda Center has become one of the league’s most difficult buildings to play in and as Anaheim’s success continues, the arena grows even louder. So can anyone prove themselves to be up to the task? Anaheim needs 5 more wins at home to equal the 1980 Philadelphia Flyers points streak (and if they want to beat the best ever home record, they’d have to do better than a 36-2-2 record at home, previously set by the Flyers in 1976).
It would be an incredibly daunting task to break such historical numbers, so perhaps it’s better to assume that the Ducks won’t be breaking any big records, but instead will post a significant run from here on out that will eventually come to an end. The Ducks’ next 10 home games will be against Vancouver, Winnipeg, LA, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Dallas, Columbus, Chicago, St. Louis, and Carolina. In the game of hockey anything can happen and any of these teams could be the team to end Anaheim’s dominance at home, or none of them will be. But the most likely candidates would likely be LA, Chicago, or St. Louis.
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