Things get extra serious in final push for title

Music wasn’t blaring in the dressing room and the playful banter was nonexistent. Smiles were few and far between.

A practice session ahead of a travel day for the Ducks is usually short and to the point. But Tuesday’s session went a full 75 minutes with Coach Randy Carlyle poring over detail after detail.

The fun and games are definitely over for a team that’s not only trying to defend its Stanley Cup title but also keep alive the goals of repeating as Pacific Division champion and securing a playoff spot along with home ice in the first round.

The Ducks have eight games remaining, all against division teams. The first step is tonight against the Dallas Stars, their nemesis in this and many other seasons.

“Your goal is to win the division,” center Todd Marchant said. “When you start training camp, that is your goal. We still have an opportunity to do it. We have games against those teams that we’re fighting with.”

It is the time of the season when players brush off their math skills and begin to figure out how many points are needed to clinch a playoff spot along with figuring out what potential opponents are out there in the distance.

In the Ducks’ case, it is quite clear.

A division title is only possible if they succeed on this crucial three-game trip that continues Friday in San Jose and culminates in Phoenix on Saturday.

The Sharks (43-21-9) have the inside track as they hold a five-point lead over the second-place Ducks after beating the Kings, 2-1, at Staples Center on Tuesday night.

San Jose also has another advantage in having a game in hand on the Ducks, who must first deal with Dallas in a game that has additional implications.

The Ducks have a one-point lead on Dallas for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference. A win would further enhance their chances of holding that spot to gain home-ice advantage if the teams meet in the first round, the chances of which are increasing.

But it has been a one-sided season series. The Ducks’ only win in the previous six meetings came at home Jan. 15. and they’ll have to finish ahead of the Stars in the standings to secure home-ice advantage since Dallas has already clinched the series.

The two teams meet March 30 in Anaheim.

“We know we’re a good team,” Ducks center Doug Weight said. “We know we can play with anybody. It does make it a big challenge when you see that they’ve had a lot of success against us.

“But we’ve got two more games left [with them]. We’ve got a good chance to make the season series a little closer. Certainly, these are two huge points to go three up on them going into San Jose.”

The Ducks will also get San Jose at home next week. Although they’ve won five of six against the Sharks, those games came before San Jose acquired All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell from Buffalo.

San Jose had won a club-record 11 games in a row, nine of them with Campbell, before losing to Edmonton in a shootout Sunday.

“It’s going to come down to those matchups,” Marchant said. “Right now, we’re trying to catch up to them, but it can change in a hurry.”

Dallas is having some issues. The Stars got center Brad Richards from Tampa Bay for a potential Cup run buthave lost five of their last six since Richards’ five-assist debut against Chicago on Feb. 28.

Dallas also has two games against San Jose in addition to the two with the Ducks.

A home-ice advantage would be meaningful for the Ducks, given their 25-8-4 record at the Honda Center.

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TONIGHT

at Dallas, 5:30 PDT, FSN West

Site -- American Airlines Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 41-25-8; Stars 42-27-5.

Record vs. Stars -- 1-5-0.

Update -- Dallas center Steve Ott, who has been effective in his agitator role against the Ducks, won’t be available as he is serving the last of a three-game suspension for a hit to the head of Colorado defenseman Jordan Leopold.

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