Preview: Ducks Begin Season's Final Road Trip Tonight in Minnesota

The Ducks will hit the road this week for the season's final two games, tonight taking on the Minnesota Wild at XCel Energy Center.

PUCK DROP: 5 P.M. PT | WHERE TO WATCH | AUDIO: DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER

Anaheim needs a pair of wins this week to finish the season with a .500 record after falling 4-2 to Colorado Sunday night on Fan Appreciation Night at Honda Center. The Ducks were unable to protect a 2-0 third period lead that night, with four unanswered Avalanche goals ultimately proving the difference.

"That's not a reflection of what a team needs to do to be a winning team," head coach Greg Cronin said. "We started out poorly and we ended poorly. We turned pucks over repeatedly. To me, it's extremely disappointing.

"I don't care what game it is during the season, you either play the right way or you play the wrong way. We played the wrong way, and they took advantage."

The loss dropped Anaheim to 35-37-8 on the season, 19 points ahead of where the club finished the 2023-24 campaign.

"It's obviously been a slow process and that's just the way it is, but this year I feel like we've been way more competitive, and obviously the standings show that," Mason McTavish said. "We're really competitive guys. We want it to happen right away. To step away from it, and look at it from afar, I think there's definitely been some growth, but being an athlete and competing in this league, you want it to happen right away. I think we've just got to stay patient. A lot of guys took steps forward this year."

McTavish scored his team-leading 22nd goal of the season Sunday, continuing a strong stretch run for the 22-year-old center. McTavish now ranks second among Ducks team leaders in points this season, and has set career-high totals in nearly every offensive category.

"He’s been probably our best player in that streak there where he was like a point-a-game guy," Cronin said. "Obviously, there’s a bright future for him...I think Mac’s been a catalyst to our offense for the better half of the second half of the season."

"I think it definitely wasn’t the player I wanted to be at the start of the season, but I worked on my game a lot during the start of the year," McTavish said. "I just kind of got more comfortable and more confident with more opportunities...Obviously, I’m a younger guy and just kind of keep growing into my game. I think it’s a slow start and a better finish and that’s kind of the way I want to play."

The Ducks added to that young core of McTavish and Co. Sunday night, welcoming Ian Moore to Orange County for his NHL debut. Moore skated along veteran Jacob Trouba, recording three shots on goal and one block in 15:31 of ice-time.

"I can’t really put it into words this quick," Moore said with a smile postgame. "It hasn’t sunk in yet. I was just trying to play simple out there and just stick to the basics during the game. But yeah, it hasn’t sunk in, probably won’t for a little while. Obviously, would have been nice to get the win, but still a dream come true for me to play tonight."

"I thought he was terrific," Cronin added. "I thought he was our best player. He did [look poised], he played smart. He played the right way, he didn’t turn pucks over, he got it deep, he kept the puck alive in the offensive zone. I thought he was really good."

Two nights later, the Ducks will again add another youngster to the mix in center Tim Washe. Signed as a college free agent yesterday, Washe captained Western Michigan University to its first National Championship this season, posting two assists in the national title game. A stout two-way forward who excels in the faceoff circle, Washe was named the NCHC's Defensive Forward of the Year and is a three-time honoree as one of the conference's Distinguished Scholar Athletes.

Washe and the Ducks now head to Minnesota with a chance to play spoiler, taking on a Wild team that can clinch a playoff spot tonight with a win on home ice. Minnesota currently holds the Western Conference's first Wild Card berth, but sits just one point ahead of St. Louis and three ahead of Calgary (which owns a game-in-hand), with postseason berths available for just two of those teams.

"It's a great opportunity for us," Minnesota head coach John Hynes said this morning. "When you get into these types of games and these types of environments, it's about being where your feet and being in the now. It's going and executing what you know. We practice, we have video, we have good habits and we know what our game looks like. That gives us the best chance to win. Now it's just going on and focusing on that...For us, I'm confident in our process."

The Wild enter play Tuesday with wins in three of their last four games, including a 3-2 comeback victory in overtime Saturday night in Vancouver.

“That was a huge, huge two points,” defenseman Brock Faber told NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. “We control our own destiny. Now it's just on to the last one and the biggest one of the year.”

Minnesota also agreed to an entry-level contract Sunday with 2024 first-round pick and Southern California native Zeev Buium, but the rookie blueliner is not expected to play in tonight's game.