The Anaheim Ducks will be sans their captain Ryan Getzlaf for roughly the next two months.
So far, the Anaheim Ducks season has been defined by how many injuries they’ve suffered. Ryan Kesler, John Gibson, Sami Vatanen, and Hampus Lindholm are just a short list of players who have missed time with injuries. You can add captain Ryan Getzlaf to the list.
After undergoing surgery to fix a zygomatic bone fracture, he will miss up to two months while recovering.
NEWS: Executive VP/GM Bob Murray said Ryan Getzlaf had surgery to repair a fracture to his zygomatic bone. Recovery could be up to 2 months.
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) November 7, 2017
One’s zygomatic bone is a part of the face. It’s more commonly known as the cheekbone. Getzlaf’s lucky more damage wasn’t done, as the cheek isn’t too far away from the temporal bone, or worse, his eyes.
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For the Ducks, this is yet another huge loss. Getzlaf will join Patrick Eaves, Cam Fowler, and Kesler on the injured reserve list. Those are three of the Ducks’ top forwards (including their top two centers) and arguably their best defenseman. Anaheim’s a must win now team, so these injuries are even more crippling to a franchise who has made a lot of moves oriented towards winning a Stanley Cup.
This puts even more pressure on Rickard Rakell to produce. As of November 7, he is the team’s leader in points with nine, tied with Andrew Cogliano. You know it’s not good when Derek Grant is your team’s next most productive center with eight points in 14 games. They rank 22nd in the NHL with 40 goals.
However, don’t rule out Anaheim quite yet. They are hanging by a thread, with a 6-6-2 record. It’s not good, but at least it’s a .500 point percentage. Their defense has been respectable, all things considered, as they are a middle of the pack team as far as goals allowed.
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If (and this is a fairly big if considering the Ducks apparently had a billion black cats cross their path this summer) the Ducks can get healthy, they’re still a very good team. And the Pacific Division isn’t a very deep division. Especially not with the Edmonton Oilers struggling. A postseason run becomes more unlikely with every game Getzlaf, Fowler and Kesler miss. But crazier things have happened.