ANAHEIM — Each of the past two postseasons have ended in familiar fashion for the Anaheim Ducks, a disappointing defeat in a Game 7 at Honda Center after a successful regular season.
The 2014-15 Ducks have already progressed further than the previous two teams. One of the biggest reasons is the young, skilled defense corps.
General manager Bob Murray has overhauled the Ducks defense over the past couple of seasons, moving away from a collection of low-risk veterans to a young, skilled, swift skating group. For a team with such high expectations, it has taken courage to commit to fielding a lineup with four defensemen who have not reached their 24th birthday, but Anaheim has been rewarded with a late-season spike in its possession statistics and now a deep run in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.