The Ducks will continue the season's final homestand tonight, welcoming the St. Louis Blues to OC for a Sunday night standoff at Honda Center.
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Anaheim heads to #77 of the 82-game regular season, looking to rebound from a 3-1 setback in Friday night's homestand opener. The Ducks fell behind early on a pair of tallies from Seattle's Shane Wright and could not mount a third-period comeback despite a remarkable goal by rookie center Leo Carlsson late in the middle frame.
"They did a great job at moving the puck in our zone, so we had a hard time closing the gaps and killing the plays in the corners in the defensive zone," said defenseman Radko Gudas, who returned to the lineup from an upper-body injury in the loss. "But I thought we skated with them throughout the whole game. Obviously, I would like us to skate a little more with the puck and have a little more confidence, but those are things we have to keep working on. Playing with the puck is something that we need to emphasize and do more of."
Added head coach Greg Cronin, "In the first period we were jumping, and right before they scored the goal we had consecutive turnovers...Give them credit, they built off of that. They had consecutive shifts where they controlled the play and in the second period. They played a good team game. We didn't respond to it. We continued to turn pucks over. We didn't defend well."
Gudas played 18:31 in his return to action, finishing the night with one shot, two hits and one takeaway with two penalty minutes, curiously earned for a massive open-ice hip check on Seattle winger Brandon Tanev.
"Obviously not [feeling] as well as I would want to after the tough loss, but overall I thought I did pretty good," Gudas said. I got back in the game and it was nice to get back in line with the guys.
"I can be better for our young guys, being more talkative out there for them and giving them opportunities to drive in certain situations. I think it was a good learning game for us."
The loss dropped Anaheim to 25-48-4 on the season with five games still to play.
"Unfortunately, we did some things that cost us the game tonight, but I still like the growth of our young players and see them getting better and better. It's fun to be a future Duck here."
The standout of those young players Friday was undoubtedly Carlsson, who scored the lone goal on a highlight-reel worthy move in the high slot and impressed Cronin with his two-way play.
"From where I stood on the bench, it was Leo Carlsson and then a huge gap to the rest of the team tonight," Cronin said bluntly. "He was one guy that I felt that tried to make something happen every play. He was outworking people for pucks, outskating people. So, credit to him.
"I think when you watch him play if you're on our team you're like 'Wow. That guy is a good hockey player. We've got to try and mirror his effort.' He's got talent, obviously, but he works. He works to get pucks back. He works the backcheck. He works in the defensive zone. For me, he's a good role model for the whole group and he's only 19."
On the other side for Anaheim tonight is a St. Louis squad just barely clinging to their longshot playoff odds, likely needing to win their final five games to catch Nashville or Los Angeles for a Wild Card berth.
That challenge got tougher last night as the Blues fell 3-2 in a shootout to the last-place Sharks, clinching San Jose's three-game season sweep over St. Louis.
"Obviously frustrating," St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko told NHL.com's Chelena Goldman. "We put a lot of pucks towards the net. No real answer off the top of my head. Not a great season series (against San Jose) obviously for sure. There's no secret to that."
The Sharks overcame a two-goal deficit to force overtime with third-period markers by Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn but a hat-trick goal for William Eklund in the extra session denied St. Louis that critical extra standings point.
"I thought we were good in the first and the second and maybe some frustration after our power plays in the second, then we start trying different things in the neutral zone, force plays that aren't there, didn't play it behind their [defense]," Blues coach Drew Bannister said. "Now all of the sudden we're playing more in our end, we take a couple penalties and they capitalize on the power play."
St. Louis (40-32-5, 85 points) sits fifth in the Central Division, seven points back of a Wild Card spot.
