The Ducks will complete one of the season's final road trips with a visit to Vancouver, this afternoon taking on the division rival Canucks at Rogers Arena.
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Anaheim hits the second half of the brief two-game Canadian trek after a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames Thursday night. The Ducks tied the game late in the first period on a goal from Olen Zellweger, the young defenseman's second career tally against his hometown team, but fell behind again in the second and then could not generate enough offense in the third to spark any comeback bid.
"We looked a little tired or something, not really competing like we need to be," Zellweger said postgame. "Because of that we're giving up way too many chances against. There were a few good moments throughout the game, but overall we have to be way better, way more competitive and complete."
The loss dropped the Ducks to 33-34-8 on the season and officially eliminated the club from postseason contention. Anaheim however remains on pace for a 21-point improvement in the standings, projected to be the second-biggest rise in the NHL this season.
"As much as it's disappointing tonight, I think from the big picture we took a step in the right direction," captain Radko Gudas said. "You can see the guys here that are young and wanted to get better, they want to get better every game we play. I thought for us, obviously not a successful year because of [missing] the playoffs, but I think it was a step in the right direction for the organization and the future is going to be bright if we can keep this group together."
Anaheim has seven games left on the regular-season schedule, with the next four outings all against divisional foes. The Ducks will need at least a 4-3-0 mark to finish at.500 on the season.
Meanwhile, on the other bench tonight is a Canucks team looking to keep their waning playoff hopes alive, needing an outstanding end to the season to make up ground. The Canucks (34-28-13, 81 points) sits eight points back of the Minnesota Wild for the second Western Conference Wild Card spot with two games-in-hand. Vancouver enters play Saturday afternoon though with losses in three straight games, most recently a 5-0 thumping from the Kraken on Wednesday.
“I saw a lot of nervousness,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet told NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. “You need some poise. I didn't think we had poise. Then they got a couple of quick goals on us, so you could see guys were getting nervous, chasing the game.”
Added former Ducks defender Marcus Pettersson, "Really frustrating. The looks they get, we kind of give them. We know they're good off the rush, and they got a lot of chances off the rush. It's deflating. We've got to pick ourselves back up and get back into the fight.”
Tonight's game also caps a four-game season series between the Ducks and Canucks. Vancouver has earned wins in two of the first three meetings, including a 3-2 victory exactly one month ago. The Ducks have lost the season series in two consecutive years to the Canucks after producing a winning record over the conference, and eventually division, rival every year from 2008-2022.
