Defense helps Ryan Kesler in struggle to find offense
ANAHEIM – After he scored an empty-net goal in the Anaheim Ducks’ 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, Ryan Kesler lost the usual emotionless look on his face.
His eyes grew large, he cracked a bit of a smile and shook his head.
This would probably be considered his "relief" look. The Ducks forward had scored one goal in the prior 21 games. Like the rest of the team, he has slumped on offense, which has weighed heavily on him during the 2015-16 campaign.
“To be honest I hold myself to a high standard and … do I like that I only have one goal in 21 games? No. But I’m not going sit here and whine about it and be upset,” Kesler said the morning before the win. “It’s happened and there’s still a bunch of games left.”
As a lot of the Ducks have struggled to find their offensive footing, Kesler has been more immune to criticism than teammates Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Though he’s the team’s second-line center, he’s a high-end player and one of the guys the Ducks count on night-in, night-out to produce.
But unlike Perry and Getzlaf, Kesler isn’t paid just to score. He’s arguably the team’s top two-way forward, and while his offense hasn’t been great, he believes his defense has carried him through this difficult stretch. Kesler has averaged over 19 minutes of ice time per game – more than Getzlaf – and won 55.6 percent of his faceoffs. He’s a minus-11, but the team itself has a minus-15 goal differential.
“He’s not one-dimensional,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “There’s people around the league whose main job is to score goals. Kes is certainly capable of doing that, but it’s not all he can bring, so at the end of the day if that’s not going for him, it will. He’s too good of a player for it not to turn eventually. At the end of the day he still has things he can fall back on that are very valuable to us, especially come the more important games that help you win hockey games. He’s always done that for us and he’ll continue to do it.”
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Part of Kesler’s effectiveness revolves around his consistency. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau knows what he’s going to get from the 31-year-old forward. Whether he scores or not, every shift he’s watching a certain two-way headiness that at very least tries his best in games.
“I know he’s frustrated because he hasn’t scored, but to not let the other part of his game go ... usually when you’re not scoring and you want to score you start cheating offensively and I find that he still does every game, does what he’s supposed to do when he doesn’t have the puck,” Boudreau said. “You know you’re getting effort and care every night.”
Kesler has proved an easy fit with the Ducks. He’s comfortable in the role of being better than your typical second-line center, but not a first-line player. This was his situation with the Vancouver Canucks when he played behind Henrik Sedin. In his second year with the team, he’s pretty much the same player he was in the first season, and a similar guy to what he’s been his whole career.
He was acquired by Anaheim two summers as a nasty second-line center to help the team go further in the playoffs. Last postseason he had 13 points in 16 games to push the Ducks to Game 7 of the Western Conference Final. It was the first time they advanced that far since 2007.
“I’ve known all these guys for a year now and you step in and grow that bond immediately,” Kesler said. “I’m feeling more comfortable.”
Maybe there’s more pressure this season – both with Kesler and the struggling Ducks. Anaheim was considered a Stanley Cup favorite before the year but is 8-10-4 through 22 games. Last summer, Kesler signed a highly scrutinized six-year $41.25 million contract extension that starts in 2016-17 and ends at the end of the 2021-22 season. He says he’s not feeling the weight of those expectations set by the deal or any desire to prove naysayers wrong. He more feels the burden of his own goals.
“I don’t really pay attention to the contract,” Kesler said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform at my highest levels and I think all the good players do that.”
Plus, it’s not like Kesler hasn’t had his share of bad luck. In Anaheim’s 5-0 loss at Tampa, the end of Ben Bishop’s stick swiped a sure Kesler goal.
Said Kesler about his scoring, “It’s a funny game and I’m not too worried about it.”
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