Preview: Ducks Host Red Wings on Hockey Fights Cancer Night
By
Matt Weller
AnaheimDucks.com
The Ducks will wear the club's Reverse Retro jerseys tonight for the second time this season.
Click here for Anaheim's full jersey schedule
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Anaheim hits the finale of its homestand hoping to snap a three-game losing skid. The Ducks could not hold an early 2-0 lead Saturday against Chicago, falling 3-2 despite what the club felt was one of its best performances of the season.
"We were great on our forecheck," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "We had lots of good looks at their net from the slot area and we've really been trying to drive home those slot-driving plays. Our defensive zone coverage was much better and better because we weren't in our zone a whole lot. It was a whole bunch of things we did really, really well that's encouraging.
"If you can play that way each and every night, each and every minute, each and every second, you will get results."
"It's been a long recovery and I'm happy to be almost at the end of it."
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) November 14, 2022
Sam Carrick and coach Eakins spoke after practice today. #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/1Qgwixu4H9
The Ducks matched a season-low with just 22 shots allowed in the loss, a step forward on the defensive side of the puck.
"We made basically two mistakes and they end up in our net," Eakins said. "We are a team who cannot outscore our mistakes, we just can't. So we've got to get those mistakes down to zero."
"When you play a game like [Saturday], it's encouraging and something you want to build off of," forward Sam Carrick added. "You don't want to dwell on the losses, but you also can't be satisfied by just playing a good game. It's a results-oriented business and we need to get some results here."
Eakins was particularly impressed by the duo of Colton White and Austin Strand, playing their first game paired together in the absence of veterans Kevin Shattenkirk and Nathan Beaulieu.
"I thought they did a great job," Eakins said. "They both played a super simple game. I thought Whitey moved the puck well. I thought they both checked very well...I was really proud of how both of those guys jumped in and played."
The Ducks (4-10-1, .300) sit eighth in the Pacific Division, with a 2-4-0 mark on home ice this season. Anaheim has won seven of its last ten matchups (7-2-1) with Detroit at Honda Center..
Anaheim's lineup could also get a boost in the return of Carrick, who was recalled from his long-term injury conditioning loan with San Diego (AHL) and practiced with the team on Monday. Carrick had offseason hip surgery after setting career highs in games played (64), points (11-8=19), goals, assists and penalty minutes (85) last year.
"I feel good," Carrick said after Monday's skate. "It's nice to play a couple games and then get some practices under my belt. I'm just trying to get back up to game speed. It's been a long recovery, a long road, but I'm happy to almost at the end of it."
Carrick played four games with the Gulls, going scoreless, and acknowledged how special it was for him to be temporarily back in his original Southern California hockey home, a place he wore the "C" for two seasons.
"The main goal was to get my legs under me and get some rust out," Carrick said. "I think I accomplished that. It would have been nice to help the team out a little more and I would have liked to done more, but at the end of the day, I played a lot of minutes, got in different situations and that's what I was hoping to do."
"Sam has been out of a very long time," Eakins said. "He did not have the luxury of training camp which is such an important part of the season for a player. He's worked extremely hard at his rehab and getting back...We just want him to get his feet underneath him, play simple and play within his skillset. He'll bring the necessary grit that he always brings."
Anaheim will host Detroit for the Southern California half of a two-game set, closing the club's first season series of the 2022-23 campaign. The Red Wings earned a 5-1 victory over the Ducks in the first meeeting, Oct. 23 at Little Caesars Arena. Five different Red Wings scored, including three power-play goals, helping Detroit extend its then season-opening point streak to five games.
Detroit (7-5-3, .567) is fifth in the Atlantic Division.
