The Ducks will take the ice for their final home game of the 2023 preseason tonight, hosting the Arizona Coyotes at Honda Center.
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Tonight's game will be broadcast live on Bally Sports SoCal.
Anaheim returns to home ice tonight after falling 4-1 to LA Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, dropping the Ducks to 4-2-0 in the preseason.
While the Ducks didn't get the result they were looking for against their crosstown rival, the club's coaching staff, management and fans alike got a closer look at how three of the its top young defenseman, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger and Tristan Luneau, would perform against a quality NHL lineup. The head coach came away impressed.
"They battled and worked hard. I was really happy with those defenseman," Greg Cronin said. "I think Mintyukov played really well. I think Zellweger worked hard. Luneau worked hard, too. The young guys really played hard. [The Kings] had their opening lineup basically and these kids are trying to learn their way. I was happy with their compete level...I told them it's a learning experience and you'll get humbled a little bit, but it's an opportunity to grow."
The Ducks will meet Arizona again tonight for the second of three preseason games. Anaheim won the first of the exhibition matchup Sunday at Acrisure Arena, scoring twice in the game's final minute to suddenly turn what appeared to be a 4-3 loss into a 5-4 comeback victory.
"It's a mindset, right?" Cronin said postgame. "We're trying to create a mentality here...If you're mentally tough and you're resilient, you're durable and I think you can adapt quicker [late in games]."
With just nine days left now until the Ducks open the regular season in Vegas, the club announced another round of roster cuts Wednesday afternoon - assigning five players to AHL San Diego. Anaheim's training camp roster now stands at 34 players.
Anaheim also added to its preseason roster this week, agreeing to a three-year contract extension with restricted free agent Trevor Zegras and claiming former first-round pick Lassi Thomson on waivers from Ottawa.
Anaheim's expected roster for tonight's game will be available later today.
