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What we learned from the Ducks’ 5-1 victory over the Senators

Ducks left wing Nick Ritchie (37) is congratulated by teammates, from left, Josh Manson, Hampus Lindholm and Ondrej Kase after scoring against the Senators on Dec. 11 at Honda Center.
(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)
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The Ducks are storing up wins for the winter, like a squirrel preparing for the harshness ahead. Their third consecutive win, a 5-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday at Honda Center, saw their offense click with three power-play goals and 13 players make the scoresheet.

Here’s what we learned:

The third line has some chemistry

Antoine Vermette, Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase have combined for three goals and four assists in the last two games.

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Vermette is a faceoff ace, Ritchie has come on strong as the power forward on the wing and Kase brings the skill and finish. Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said Vermette’s ability to win draws is a good foundation for the line.

“They start with the puck a lot, and that’s a great asset,” Carlyle said.

They took a page from the Bruce Boudreau era

Though this outfit doesn’t quite approach the quick-strike, relentless attack that was associated with some of former Coach Bruce Boudreau’s teams, the Ducks are getting balanced scoring.

Three of their four lines scored Sunday, and they’re getting more goals off the rush lately. It helps that Rickard Rakell has returned and Corey Perry has emerged from his slump. And it’s been needed for a team that has relied on Ryan Kesler’s line for offense and defense.

“I thought we’ve played pretty well the past couple of games,” Perry said. “It’s a matter of executing and it’s being sharp between the ears every night coming into the rink. It’s about going and doing what we want to do. If you continue to do that, we have four lines that are rolling and it’s nice to see.”

Three is the number

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Most teams put themselves in good position to win with three goals but the Ducks have hit that home. They are 48-3-4 when scoring three goals or more since the start of the 2015-16 season.

One of those losses was by an 8-3 score in a game that got out of hand against the Calgary Flames. The Ducks got to three goals in the first period Sunday.

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