The Ducks will look to complete an undefeated road trip tonight in Pittsburgh, facing off with the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
PUCK DROP: 4 P.M. | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER
Anaheim makes its final stop on a four-game road trip after already picking up victories in Columbus, Boston and Philadelphia, improving the club's overall record to 4-4-0.
The Ducks rolled to a 7-4 victory over the Flyers in Saturday's matinee, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead and quieting a late Philly comeback attempt with a trio of third-period goals to put the game away.
"The way we're playing, analytically, we've won more games than we've lost in this eight-game stretch here," coach Greg Cronin said. "They always say eventually it will turn and Saturday we were rewarded with a bunch of goals."
Frank Vatrano continued to power the Anaheim attack in the win, scoring his second hat trick of the season to move into a tie for second place among NHL goal scoring leaders (eight).
"Goal-scoring is a funny thing," Vatrano told NHL.com's Adam Kimelman. "Sometimes they'll go in, sometimes they don't. You're going to have ups and downs with goal-scoring. For them to go in early, it's always good and you just roll with that. I've just got to keep taking it one game at a time."
"He's a great skater, he's got elite speed," Cronin added. "Then the next thing they say is his shot. The reliability part, the defensive side of it, that was one of the question marks about him, but we've had him really invested on the defensive side of the puck. He kills penalties, he's been responsible defensively.
"It's just like a human thing, there's a value system players have to follow to be reliable in their roles. And I talked to him about: 'Don't worry about the skating and the scoring, that'll come. I want you to really be focused on playing defense away from the puck.'"
Vatrano and Toronto's Auston Matthews are the only two NHLers with multiple hat tricks this season. The second-year Duck is also the second player in franchise history to record two hat tricks in the season's first month, joining Corey Perry.
Vatrano and linemates Mason McTavish and Ryan Strome have combined for a formidable second line early in the season, as the group owns 13 goals and 27 points in their first eight games, good for 52% of Anaheim's goal scoring so far.
They'll look to stay hot in Pittsburgh against a Penguins team trying to shake off a 5-2 loss to Ottawa Saturday night on home ice. The Pens fell behind early, trailing 3-0 after 25 minutes of play and replacing starting netminder Tristan Jarry with backup Magnus Hellberg.
“They're too good to give that team that many good looks. Well, not that many, but the looks they got were really good,” Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson, a former Duck, told NHL.com's Wes Crosby. “Our energy was good from the start, but we were down 2-0. I think we got a little frustrated in our structure and kind of lost it and gave them good looks that they capitalized on."
Pittsburgh stands at 3-5-0 with a 2-3-0 mark on home ice.
