Blue Liner Helps Light Red Light

The Ducks have never gotten much scoring from their defensemen, but Dmitri Mironov is changing that. Quietly but steadily, he keeps putting up points.

The franchise record for most points by a defenseman--39 by Bill Houlder during the 1993-94 season--will almost certainly belong to Mironov by the end of the season.

Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh on Nov. 19, Mironov has 31 points overall and 25 with the Ducks. He has six points over the last six games, and has contributed at least an assist in 10 of the last 13.

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The Ducks’ penalty-killing continues to be inconsistent, and their efficiency has dipped below 80% at 79.8%

“The nights we give up goals, we’re in a passive mode,” Wilson said. “The nights we’re successful, we’re aggressive.”

Too many times, the Ducks have had chances to clear the puck and failed, only to see the other team score against a tired group of penalty-killers in desperate need of a line change.

“We don’t get the puck out,” Wilson said. “If one guy doesn’t get the job done, the chain breaks and we collapse.”