The Ducks will visit the Pacific Northwest tonight to kick off the season's final extended road trip, facing off with the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.
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Preview: Ducks Begin Northwest Road Trip Tonight in Seattle
Anaheim will hit the road after completing an eight-game homestand Monday at 1-6-1, a stretch that started with a 1-1-1 record but concluded with five straight regulation losses.
"In any game, win or lose, there's going to be things that you know you could have done better and there's going to be a thing you did well," head coach Dallas Eakins said after Monday's setback vs. Colorado. "That's no slouch of a team over there. Those guys are the champs and it looks like they're ramping it up now and getting ready for another run at it. I thought we had some good moments in the game. I thought there were some moments we were in over our head and some moments that we can learn from."
"I think everyone gets frustrated when you're losing," forward Jakob Silfverberg added. "It doesn't matter if you're playing a good team or not. We're all here to win. We knew we were going to have a tough game Monday, so we were just going to try to outwork them out there, but it was a tough game and they are a good team."
The Ducks will be put to the test on this road trip, without at least two of their top three forwards. Versatile veteran Adam Henrique practiced with the team Wednedsday, but did no go on the trip as he continues to recover from a lower-body injury.
All-Star winger Troy Terry also did not make the flight to Seattle, electing to stay close to home while he and his wife, Dani, await the expected early birth of their first child. Terry is expected to be available for all remaining Ducks home practices and games.
Meanwhile, center Trevor Zegras did not skate with the team Wednesday after leaving Monday's game in the second period, but did join the team for the trip. It remains to be seen when Zegras will return to Anaheim's lineup.
"It's going to be really important to have a simple approach to our offensive game," Eakins said of missing his top three scoring forwards. "But I also think it amplifies the need of being on-point with our puck management, staying out of the penalty box and playing a safe game. This is when you have to check and do your best not to let the other team have any looks at your net. It's got to be a defensive approach first.
"The reality is, it's a lot easier to keep pucks out of your net than to score one. With guys like [Henrique], Terry and possibly Zegras out of the lineup, that's a lot of goals right there. That's a lot of points and a lot of offense-generating plays. When you take that out, you have to do your best to go win it 1-0."
One of the forwards with a chance to earn most ice time in the absence of that trio is rookie Nikita Nesterenko, who continues to impress Ducks coaches in his acclimation to the NHL.
"I thought the last game was great for him because there was some struggle in it," Eakins said. "It was all to do with those are the Stanley Cup champions, they have some incredible habits and a great core of players. They play a certain way and at a certain pace, it's very fast. I think the first couple of games was great, he played well again those opponents, but that team is one of the elites in the league. I think it was great for him to get a feel for that."
Anaheim did add to its roster Wednesday as well, recalling defenseman Andrej Sustr from San Diego. Sustr, acquired from Minnesota in the same deal that brought Nesterenko to Anaheim, will officially begin his third stint as a Duck, wearing #29.
"Really steady and obviously a big guy," Eakins said of the 6-foot-7 Sustr. "Long reach and never complicates his game. He passes it to the closest guy or gets it out of the zone. Great teammate, great heart and a simple player. A really good addition, especially at this time, because he's a super level-headed guy and sees everything half-full."
The Ducks and Kraken will conclude a four-game season series tonight, with Anaheim hoping to level the score at two wins apiece. The Ducks opened the season with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win against the Kraken way back in October, but fell 5-4 and 5-2 in both subsequent meetings.
"All of their lines can score," Eakins said. "It's not just one or two. The other thing is they don't need a whole bunch of chances to score. It's not like they need 10 chances to score a goal, they just need a couple. That'll be our biggest challenge, trying to stifle that and give them none. I thought our last game in there, even though the score seemed lopsided, I thought we played a really solid game where we had plenty enough chances to win the game. We couldn't finish. They had some and were able to."
Seattle will open a three-game homestand tonight, holding down the Western Conference's first Wild Card spot after going 2-1-1 on a four-game road trip.
"It was one of those nights where we weren't rewarded for some of the good, hard work we did offensively," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol told NHL.com's Jessi Pierce. "We made too many mistakes that ended up in the back of our net. It felt like we could keep pushing and find one, especially in the first half of the hockey game … and get ourselves right back into it, but that didn't happen."
Seattle (40-25-8, 88 points) is fourth in the Pacific Division, eight points back of first-place Vegas.
