The Ducks (0-1-0) conclude their two-game road stretch to open the season as they take on the Sharks (0-0-1) tonight.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and the game airs exclusively on Victory+.
Anaheim dropped its first game of the season, losing to the Seattle Kraken 3-1.
Coming off Thursday’s loss, head coach Joel Quenneville discussed the good things he saw from his team in that game and shared his message for tonight as they get ready for San Jose.
“I think we saw some positives in how we started the game,” Quenneville said. “We started exactly the way we wanted to start, and we played like we can play, now sustaining it and having a 60-minute game is what we’re talking about and bringing more consistency in our play.”
The lone Ducks goal on Thursday came courtesy of rookie Beckett Sennecke. With his goal coming just 4:11 into the game, Sennecke became the youngest player (19 years 254 days) in the last 10 NHL seasons to score that quickly in his professional debut and the youngest since Jonathan Huberdeau (19 years, 229 days, 2012-2013).
“It was exciting, obviously,” said Jackson LaCombe of Sennecke’s goal. “[To score it in] the first game is pretty rare, but it was pretty cool, and everyone was pretty excited about it.”
Tonight’s game features two teams looking for their first win as the Sharks held a 3-2 lead deep into the third period in their season opener against the Golden Knights until Jack Eichel knocked an empty netter goal in to tie the game. Vegas ended up winning in overtime.
Despite having familiarity with the Sharks this preseason, Leo Carlsson noted what kinds of challenges the team presents now that regular season play is here.
“[They’re a] fast team,” Carlsson said. “They play a little unpredictable. They have good young players and older players now this year, as well. It’s an upgrade from last year, I think.”
As Carlsson noted, San Jose’s roster is full of young talent, including former first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, and Quenneville described what it’s like going up against a group like that and what the focus of the Ducks needs to be.
“We got a pretty good idea of what they’re looking to do,” he said. “We’ll always give our group awareness to what we need to be looking for and at the same time, it always comes back to how we want to play and what we want to accomplish.”
