Top (Line) Dawg Entertainment: Ducks’ Reunited First Line Fueling Success

After the Ducks’ thrilling comeback victory in overtime over the New York Rangers, broadcast host Aly Lozoff posed the question to Leo Carlsson, ‘Where is the no-quit attitude coming from?’

“I don’t know,” Carlsson said. “I just think everybody has that dawg in them. It’s easy.” If that's the case, Carlsson is head of the pack right now. He’s been at a point-per-game pace since the beginning of February and his first four-point game as an NHLer on Mar. 30 helped spur the Ducks’ comeback against the Rangers.

His goal on Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs made him the first Ducks player in franchise history, aged 20 years or younger, to have a 20-goal season. Another goal scored this season would make him the highest-scoring player, age 20 or younger,  passing teammate Mason McTavish.

After having a game management plan which limited him to two games a week and no back-to-backs until December during his rookie season, the first half of Carlsson’s sophomore season did not look great from a point production standpoint. He had just 16 points in 45 games, with 31 games between November and February separating his last two multi-point games. While he was on pace to surpass his rookie season total of 29 points, the lack of production was a bit surprising—and perhaps concerning.

The 4 Nations Face-Off felt like a timely reprieve, allowing Carlsson to be around his fellow countrymen for a couple of weeks and possibly experience playing in a best-on-best tournament. Carlsson played in Sweden’s final game of the tournament against Team USA. While he wasn’t on the scoresheet, the glimpses he’d shown with the Ducks on how much he can impact a game were on display.

Carlsson had four points in the Ducks’ first three games after the 4 Nations break. In total, he’s had 21 points in the 20 games since the break. Both Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek and head coach Greg Cronin have noted the uptick in Carlsson’s performance since returning from the tournament, citing an increase in his confidence, pace and willingness to shoot the puck.

“Confidence is a funny thing,” Verbeek said. “
These kids have to realize that they can do it. But, I think the other thing with Leo coming out of (4 Nations) is he's had a more aggressive mindset with his shooting. You’re starting to see him shoot the puck a lot more versus passing the puck. And that leads to another thing, being confident (enough) to wanna shoot the puck to score. He’s got a great shot. It just frustrates me sometimes not seeing him shoot the puck when he can shoot the puck. His mindset has been completely different since he got back and it’s been great.”

“Since the 4 Nations tournament, he’s come back and he seems like he has more pace to his game,” Cronin said. “There’s more explosiveness.

“Pat ...