The Ducks are back on home ice tonight for the second half of a back-to-back, hosting the New Jersey Devils at Honda Center.
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Anaheim continues a busy weekend of hockey after a 6-4 win last night in San Jose. The Sharks tied the game at three late in the second period, but the Ducks would quickly respond with a pair of power-play goals that eventually proved the difference in the game.
"That was huge, they had all the momentum," head coach Greg Cronin said. "We felt we were in control of the game for most of that second period. And we got the two power-play goals and took a lot of stress off of us."
Added Adam Henrique, "Our defense did a great job all night battling and guys stepped up when we needed them. We got big goals at key times, where they scored but we came right back and got another one. We put pressure back on them. That was big for our team and now we have to try to roll that into tomorrow night."
With the win, Anaheim earned seven of eight possible standings points (3-0-1) in the four-game season series vs. San Jose.
"It’s a rivalry game, it’s always fun to play those games," defenseman Radko Gudas said. "They're a big, heavy team. I thought we played very physical as well."
The Ducks now return home to open a five-game homestand and could do so with a slightly different defense corps. With the NHL's trade deadline now just one week away, Anaheim made its first move Thursday night, sending blueliner Ilya Lyubushkin to Toronto in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick. Acquired from Buffalo last offseason, Lyubushkin led the Ducks in blocked shots (138) and ranked second among team leaders in shorthanded ice-time.
Also on defense, Anaheim was without Cam Fowler for all but 21 seconds in the win over San Jose after the veteran was hit in the face by an errant shot. Fowler did not return to the game and his status for Friday night has yet to be announced.
On other side, New Jersey visits Honda Center for the second of a three-game California road trip that started with a 7-2 win over San Jose on Tuesday.
"As a group, we were disappointed with the last game (a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday)," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff told NHL.com's Chelena Goldman. "You can only answer that with the next game, and I think all the guys answered that. Really a complete effort."
Anaheim will look for a season sweep of New Jersey tonight after earning a 5-1 win in the season's first meeting, back in December at Prudential Center. Henrique, a former Devil, scored his first career NHL hat trick that night while John Gibson and Lukas Dostal combined for 28 saves.
New Jersey (30-25-4, 64 points) sits fourth in the Metropolitan Division, six points back of a Wild Card position.
