Preview: Ducks Back on Home Ice for Rematch with Oilers
Anaheim will return to home ice after a unfruitful road trip, a three-game trek that yielded losses to a trio of Western Conference contenders in Seattle, Edmonton and Calgary. The Ducks nearly ended the trip with a potentially playoff-spoiling win over the Flames, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period, but could not hang on as defenseman Michael Stone scored the game-winning goal with just under three minutes to play in regulation.
"I thought it was a really great effort by the group," head coach Dallas Eakins said after Sunday's back-and-forth loss to Calgary. "Back-to-back games for us and just an absolutely desperate team over there fighting for a playoff spot. Heartbreaker."
The Ducks now have five games remaining on the regular-season schedule, with four slated for Honda Center.
"At the end of the day, it's about our group," Sam Carrick said. "When you spend every day together with a group like that, you develop some bonds. We want to play for each other. Everyone loves each other. We'll be battling right to the end."
The club will get at least one big boost in the lineup tonight, with All-Star winger Troy Terry set to return after missing due to an expected early birth of his first child. Terry will participate in all Ducks home practices and games through the end of the season.
"The one thing we've really learned with him out is he is a driver of the line," Eakins said. "For Mac-T and Jonesy, that had been the line and they played really well there. But, suddenly without Troy, the matchup becomes a little bit different for them and it's a bigger challenge.
"For me, the biggest thing with Troy coming back is, wherever we put him, that he takes control of the line and drives play."
Anaheim could also get veteran Adam Henrique back in action as well, as the versatile forward joined the team at practice Tuesday. Henrique has not played since suffering a lower-body injury on Feb. 21 at Tampa Bay.
The Ducks will host an Edmonton team desperately fighting for playoff positioning, and now firmly part of the Pacific Division title race after a 3-1 win over the Kings last night in Los Angeles.
"It was a patient game and not a lot of room on the ice," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft told NHL.com postgame. "Very well-played game by both teams. We found a way to win, which is a good sign for our group."
Anaheim and Edmonton will face off for the second time in a week, as the Oilers cruised to a 6-0 win Saturday at Rogers Place backed by four unanswered goals in an eight-minute span. Despite that, Ducks players and coaches felt there were improvements within their game that night that could lend itself to more success tonight with better execution.
"What's interesting about it is, I know the score looks terrible, but the reality is as a team, from an experience and lineup-wise compared to theirs, one is where you start and the other is where you finish," Eakins said. "That first period was as good of a period as we've played all year against an elite team. Usually, when you say we played our best period of the year, you're up three goals after that period, and we were down 1-0. I think it really shows the discrepancy where the teams are at. That team is a contender for the cup and it's what we aspire to be.
"I was, quietly, quite happy with our effort."
For Eakins, the game was an example of where the Ducks want to take their rebuild and also a reminder that sometimes you have to tip your cap.
"Going back and looking at the game, we may have made a mistake here or there but it's amazing, they just need one mistake," Eakins said. "Like the goal [Connor] McDavid scores, we've got five guys inside. But he can just find the net. Sometimes it's just very hard to defend a player like that. We had five guys right there and he still found a way."
With five games left on their regular-season slate, the Oilers sit second in the Pacific Division (46-23-9, 101 points), three points back of first-place Vegas.
