NOTE: The start time of tonight’s game at Nationwide Arena has been moved to 5:30 p.m. PT from the scheduled 3:30 p.m. PT start as a result of a power outage in downtown Columbus. Doors at the arena will open 45 minutes before puck drop.
The Ducks will begin their first extended road trip of the season tonight in the Buckeye State, facing off with the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
PUCK DROP: 5:30 P.M. PT | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER
Anaheim hits the road tonight for the first of a four-game trip, hoping to turn some recent solid performances against quality teams into results and standings points.
"The process includes culture creation, like creating standards, expectations, starts with compete, you know, how hard guys work," head coach Greg Cronin said. "We know going into the season that we're not going to have a handful of aces and kings, so we gotta play our cards right, but it's always gotta be driven by work. So, we've demonstrated that every game, right? I can't fault our team for their compete level. They're working their tails off."
The Ducks narrowly dropped both games of a back-to-back last weekend, falling 2-1 in Arizona, despite a heavy push for a late tying goal, before a 3-1 setback the following night against the undefeated Boston Bruins.
"It’s frustrating, but I think the way we’ve played through the first five games, I don’t think anyone really has any disappointment in that," Ryan Strome added.
"But we need to find a way to win games. We need to find a way to get that greasy goal at the right time and make those timely plays. I think we’re a team that lost a lot of games last year. We need to find a way to win, and to learn how to win. Right now, we’re probably stuck between learning how to win and learning how not to lose. That’s something we’ll gain over time. All I know is that the process is there, the work ethic is there."
A key for Anaheim Tuesday will be getting more pucks to the net, something Cronin says will help turn a puck possession advantage into more scoring chances.
"It's a game of inches," Cronin said. "We've had plenty of opportunities, and I keep saying it like it's a broken record, we won't shoot the puck...As a team that doesn't score a lot of goals, we've gotta shoot pucks."
The Ducks will face a Blue Jackets team tonight looking for its third straight win after earning back-to-back victories Friday and Saturday against Calgary and Minnesota. After tonight, the Blue Jackets will have played five of their six games of the new season on home ice.
"Nice to win back to back,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent told NHL.com's Jessi Pierce. “The way we played we deserved that win. We played really well, really connected, really intense...No game is perfect. We’re going to make mistakes, but the mindset was perfect. I’m looking for excellence, and what I mean by excellence is working hard. We did that tonight.”
Anaheim enters play tonight with a four-game win streak against Columbus, with wins in eight of the last 10 matchups overall.
