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Boudreau needs fewer ‘passengers’ on slumping Ducks

Bruce Boudreau

Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau gives instructions during a timeout in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. The Ducks won 2-1. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

Bruce Boudreau didn’t name names after his team’s fourth straight loss on Wednesday, but it’s clear the Ducks’ head coach isn’t happy with the performances of a number of his players.

“We’ve got some guys who are working their [rears] off and then we have continually the same passengers every night,” Boudreau said, per the LA Times. “Those passengers, we rely on them heavily. We were a 20-man team when we were successful. We can’t do it with 10 or 12, and that’s what it seems these four games have been like.”

Things don’t get any easier for Anaheim tonight. The Ducks are in Chicago to face the Blackhawks -- a team that will be looking for revenge after dropping a 4-2 decision March 20 at the Honda Center.

As we wrote a couple of days ago, hockey’s advanced statistics purveyors have been predicting an Anaheim collapse for some time now.

The Ducks have been outscored 16-5 in their last four games.

Is it just a little slump?

Or, is a house of cards coming tumbling down?