Anaheim's Central Thinking

Look no farther than Nick Bonino's stat line this season if you want to analyze just how deep the Anaheim Ducks are at center. Bonino, considered the Ducks' third- or fourth-line center, depending on the game, opponent and his linemates, would lead eight teams in scoring right now despite being 77th among centers in ice time per game (16:27). He has 40 points, which is third on the Ducks behind fellow center Ryan Getzlaf and right wing Corey Perry. Bonino is one of five centers who routinely make coach Bruce Boudreau's job one of the easiest yet toughest in the NHL.

"When you've got that many guys that can play minutes, I mean, Bruce has a task every night," Getzlaf said.

The Ducks talk about their four-line balance as one of the main reasons for their success this season. They wouldn't have that four-line balance without at least four centers Boudreau trusts in nearly all situations. But Anaheim has five, though Boudreau tends to shield Mathieu Perreault sometimes because of his size (5-foot-10, 185 pounds). Getzlaf is the unquestioned leader and No. 1 guy. He leads the team with 61 points and is first among forwards at 20:48 of ice time per game. Bonino, Saku Koivu, Perreault and Daniel Winnik provide the balance to complement Getzlaf. Andrew Cogliano has played on the wing most of the season, but he can also move to the middle in a pinch.

"It's a four-line League now," Boudreau said. "It used to be that you could ride your top two guys, but now it doesn't even work if you have three that you use all the time."

Boudreau said he tries to get his centers at least 10 minutes of ice time per game, and the stats bear that out. Perreault is fifth in ice time among the five centers at 13:47 per game in 46 games. Winnik was at 15:28 in 51 games, but he plays more on the wing than in the middle. Koivu is eight seconds behind Winnik at 15:20 in 40 games; he missed 15 others due to injury. Boudreau has scratched Winnik four times and Perreault three times in the past 13 games. He has used all five centers in 27 of 55 games this season, which is why Winnik has played mostly on the wing. The five centers are among the team's top-10 scorers. Koivu is tied for 10th with Teemu Selanne, each has 19 points, but remember, he missed a full month.

"Any time you can have four lines that have any one of those guys playing down the middle, it's huge for any team," Perry said. "The depth alone on our team has come into play on our season. It definitely helps to have four solid lines. You can put any winger with any of those four guys and they're going to have success. That's the way Bruce is looking at it."

Boudreau admitted there are times when he has to ride Getzlaf more, such as in the Ducks' 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings last Thursday, when Getzlaf played 24:31. It was that way against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 5, when Getzlaf played 25:39 in a 4-3 overtime win. It was also that way Nov. 30 and Dec. 3, back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks and Kings in which Getzlaf played almost 27 minutes. However, in most games Getzlaf plays 18 to 22 minutes because Koivu, Bonino, Perreault and Winnik can play important minutes to give the Ducks the four-line balance all teams crave but so few have.

"There are some games when [Getzlaf] has to play more, when we need our big horse," Boudreau said.

"You've got one of the best forwards in the game right now in Ryan Getzlaf, and he's playing so well, so the rest of us centers want to try to complement that, contribute and provide some offense," Bonino said. "You look at the teams at the top of the standings: They're always strong at center. We pride ourselves on being good game in and game out, helping the team win. We're definitely happy with how that's gone."