Ducks (21-15-2) return to Honda Center for a three-game home stint that begins against the Sharks (18-17-3).
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. PT and will air on Victory+ and FOX 11.
Anaheim is looking to turn things around after dropping its last two games, most recently falling to the Kings, 6-1, on Saturday.
“We can talk about [how] we want to be a harder-working team this season, but the game tonight didn’t indicate that at all,” head coach Joel Quenneville said after Saturday’s loss. “The tenaciousness and the relentlessness has to go be part of our identity. But we can’t talk about it. We’ve got to prove that.”
While the loss was lopsided, the Ducks are still second in the Pacific Division, just one point behind the Golden Knights.
Jacob Trouba discussed his team’s mindset on how the group needs to find their way through this valley by starting faster and “get back to playing good hockey.”
“Riding the rollercoaster up and down all year is not really where you want to be,” Trouba said. “Just kind of keep level-headed. We know we’ve got to be better [and] get back to doing the things that made us successful early on.”
Nikita Nesterenko returns to the lineup tonight and Quenneville said he’s looking forward to utilizing Nesterenko’s versatility on the ice. Additionally, Quenneville shared how some new line changes will hopefully give his group a boost in upping their scoring chances.
“I think we’ve had some stretches there where we’re looking for a little bit more ignition or lighten-up some lines to get more productivity,” Quenneville mentioned. “I know we’re not going to score at the rate we did when we started the season throughout the year, but it’d be nice to get a little more consistency in our scoring.”
After dropping their prior three games, the Sharks got back in the win column on Saturday with a commanding 6-3 victory over the Canucks.
Macklin Celebrini leads the team in goals (20), assists (37), and points (57) and extended his point streak to seven games in the win over Vancouver.
While young, this Sharks group has been jelling and Trouba shared what he and the Ducks are keeping their eyes on ahead of tonight.
“[They have] high-end skill players that are young,” he said. “Certainly, similar to our group, we’ve got a lot of those guys, too. They’ve been playing really good hockey. I think they
obviously started slow, and over the last 30 or 25 games, they’ve been playing really well and been winning hockey games, so it’ll be a good test for us.”
Tonight is the second of four regular season meetings between these two teams. Anaheim beat San Jose in a high-scoring overtime affair, 7-6, back in October.
Quenneville said Lukas Dostal will get the start for Anaheim while Radko Gudas (illness) and Frank Vatrano (upper-body) will miss the game.
