The Anaheim Ducks kicked off a season-high six-game road trip on December 15th which could make or break their season. The west coast squad headed east without the likes of goaltender Ryan Miller, defenseman Cam Fowler and forwards Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry. It’s nothing new for head coach Randy Carlyle though as his team has been decimated by injuries since day one of the 2018/19 season.

Rakell, Fowler, Perry and Miller are just a few examples of the team’s injury list as the Ducks have also been without Ondrej Kase, Ryan Kesler, Carter Rowney, Hampus Lindholm, Nick Ritchie, Jakob Silfverberg, Josh Manson, John Gibson and Korbinian Holzer at one point or an other during the current campaign.

But even though there’s a revolving door to the local infirmary, the Ducks still managed to boast an impressive 18-11-5 record as of December 16th and sat in second place in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference. They’ve quietly climbed the standings and have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL recently with a 9-2 mark in their past 11 outings.

Not bad for a team which leads the league in man games lost to injury.

The latest to go down was backup goaltender Ryan Miller as he’s expected to miss about six weeks due to a knee ligament problem. Miller may be 38 years old, but he’s been a key player for Anaheim so far this year. He had posted a 4-2-1 record in 10 appearances with a 92.2 save percentage at the time of his injury along with a goals-against average of 2.71.

The veteran had been playing well in tandem with starter John Gibson and his absence led to general manager Bob Murray picking up Chad Johnson on waivers from the St. Louis Blues as a replacement. This means Carlyle will now have to rely on Gibson more than ever and he needs to be careful not to wear him out. Gibson could possibly start a career-high 65 games this season and end up seeing too much rubber before the playoffs, especially since the Ducks give up the fourth-most shots on average in the NHL.

Goaltenders who play too much during the regular season are often sub-par once the playoffs start with Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators finding that out last season. If we look at the last five Stanley Cup winners, none of the starting goalies appeared in over 58 contests in the regular-season. Jonathan Quick played in just 49 games when the Los Angeles Kings hoisted the trophy in 2013/14 and Matt Murray of the Pittsburgh Penguins appeared in the same number in 2016/17 when leading his side to the cup.

Even though Johnson has played well as a backup during his career, most notably with the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins, he’s not at Miller’s level these days. His save percentage has declined in each of the past five years to his current mark of 88.4 and his GAA has risen to 3.55 this season. It’s true the Blues have been playing poorly this year, but it’s also understandable why the 32-year-old Johnson was waived.

With Anaheim averaging close to just 2.50 goals scored per game they’ll definitely be rolling the dice with a goaltender in net who owns a 3.55 GAA. Fans should expect to see Carlyle start Gibson as often as possible until Miller’s healthy enough to return to the crease. If Miller doesn’t cool off during his time on the sidelines and the Ducks are safely in a playoff spot it would allow Gibson to get some rest before the postseason.

As for the offense, Anaheim will he hoping Ondrej Kase can remain healthy for the duration of the campaign. Kase was chosen in the seventh round with the 205th overall pick in the Entry Draft in 2014 and has defied the odds by becoming an NHL regular. The 23-year-old native of the Czech Republic is the only seventh-round player of the 2014 draft to set foot on the ice in an NHL contest. The winger missed the Ducks’ first 18 outings this year due to a concussion and had eight goals and six assists in 16 games since returning.

Kase showed promise last year by notching 20 goals and 18 helpers in 66 games and looks a good bet to better those numbers despite missing about 20 per cent of the season. He’s an energetic player who isn’t shy when it comes to shooting on net and he offers the Ducks both consistency and versatility up front as he can play either wing and on any line. There’s a good chance he’ll evolve into a team leader and be handed more responsibility once veterans Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have retired.

For the time being though, Kase is still learning the ropes, but should remain a key player for the remainder of the season as long as his health holds out. Gibson will need to continue to backstop the team to victory and Carlyle needs to pick his spots when playing Johnson in net. He’ll likely get the nod when the Ducks play on back-to-back nights and against some of the league’s weaker sisters, if there really are any.

Anaheim should be in good shape once Perry, Rakell, Fowler and Miller all return to the lineup and that’s why their six-game road trip from mid-December to the new year will be so important. If they can go .500 before returning home they should still be in a playoff spot. But if they collapse during the stint they could slide down the standings dramatically.