The Ducks return to home ice tonight for just the second time this month, hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets at Honda Center.
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The Ducks are back in Orange County after a rollercoaster four-game eastern road trip that finished at 2-2-0 with a comeback win Monday afternoon in Buffalo. Anaheim twice trailed by one in that game a but a three-goal middle frame from the Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Frank Vatrano line quickly flipped the script heading to the third.
"It was big," Vatrano said of closing out the trip with a win. "We weren't happy with [Saturday's loss to Toronto]. We had a good practice Sunday and kind of put it behind us. Came out a little flat but I think we had a good last 40 minutes of the game."
Added head coach Greg Cronin, "The best part of the game for us was the last 10 minutes. We managed the puck in the third period. We put it deep and stopped turning pucks over...We got lucky to get those goals late in the second, which gave us momentum. We played a smart, simple game after that."
The win pushed Anaheim to 20-33-2 on the season and 12-15-1 on the road. The Ducks have now earned points in six of their last 10 games (5-4-1).
"We're at 20 wins, and we're clearly out of the playoff picture but we've made some internal goals that would reflect some progress for the group," Cronin said. "Monday was a big one going in that direction."
Anaheim will look for a season sweep of Columbus tonight after earning a comeback victory in the first meeting between the teams way back in October. Much like they did two nights ago, the Ducks erased two one-goal deficits in that comeback victory, grabbing the extra standings point on Vatrano's overtime breakaway.
"We just kept persevering," Cronin said that night. "I thought we were flat in the first period, standing around watching them skate, and we kind of woke up in the second and third periods. Just really happy with the energy and the effort our guys played with.”
With the win, Anaheim's fifth straight over Columbus, the Ducks have now earned points in eight of their last 10 matchups against the Eastern Conference foe.
Since that early-season setback, the rebuilding Blue Jackets have struggled to the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings, now sitting eighth with 44 points on the year.
The club has also struggled since its return from the NHL All-Star Break, with last night's 5-1 defeat to the Kings marking their third loss in the four games.
“It’s hard to win in this League,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent told NHL.com's Dan Greenspan. “It’s hard to win when you’re in a growing process. To sustain multiple wins in a row, it’s a tough thing to do. And we know after the All-Star break, the League just gets harder and harder.”
The Blue Jackets will still be without rookie forward Adam Fantilli tonight as he continues to recover from a calf laceration suffered last month. The third overall pick in last summer's NHL Draft is seventh among league rookies in points per game this season (.55), narrowly trailing teammate Dmitri Voronkov and three spots back of Ducks rookie Leo Carlsson, selected second overall.
