The Ducks will cap their final road trip prior to the 2024 NHL All-Star Break tonight, facing off with the Minnesota Wild at XCel Energy Center.
PUCK DROP: 6 P.M. PT | TV: BALLY SPORTS WEST | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER
The Ducks fly north after grabbing one standings point in the trip's opener, a 4-3 overtime defeat Thursday night in Dallas. The Ducks claimed a pair of one-goal leads in that game, including a 3-2 edge in the third on Jakob Silfverberg's go-ahead goal, but could not hold off the late push from a potent Stars attack to avoid OT.
"We were playing a really good team [Thursday], they're a contender," Silfverberg said postgame. "We’re maybe not controlling the game, but we’re staying in it by having good goaltending, and at the end of the night, it’s one shot that’s the difference. We get one point. Had get great goaltending tonight. We need to build off the second half of the game going forward."
"I thought the first period was good for us, but they took the game over in the second," head coach Greg Cronin said. "They rolled that momentum all the way into the third period...After the first period, we were behind the eight-ball for quite a part of it.
“One of the things they did really well was they shot pucks from distance to the net, and they funneled bodies there. They’re a big team and they skate well, so when they do throw pucks down and have bodies driving the net, it’s hard to defend. They got a lot of secondary shots off of rebounds.”
The loss denied the Ducks consecutive wins for the first time this month, but did give the club points in three of its last six games (2-3-1).
"The game against Buffalo (at home on Tuesday), was one of our better games as of late, so we're definitely starting to see some improvement," Silfveberg said. "We're playing better. We're getting points. We played a good team Thursday and it wasn't enough on our end, but there are some pieces we can build on and take with us to Minnesota."
"We seem to build a little traction, and then we get whacked with injuries and take a step back," Cronin said. "It's been a funny year like that. I don't think we've had the same lineup two or three games in a row much. So the chemistry part you want to build between your defense pairs and your forward lines has been difficult. Everyone goes through it in the NHL, but it's been musical chairs for us."
Among those still missing from lineups Anaheim's lineup: Trevor Zegras, Alex Killorn, Max Jones, Pavel Mintyukov and Ilya Lyubushkin.
"We're in the rebuilding stage, so I try to look at it as a positive. Guys who wouldn't have played as much, a guy like [Brett] Leason, Bo Groulx gets in there and Vaakanainen gets in there. Olen Zellweger has gotten his chance. I thought he played really well. So now we've got these guys that we've really got a good read on from an organizational perspective."
With the lines shuffled, the combo of Silfverberg, Mason McTavish and Isac Lundestrom, has led to some offense over the last two games - with three goals and a pair of multi-point efforts for Silfverberg. The 11th-year Duck is now fifth all-time in goals in franchise history, trailing only Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry, Paul Kariya and Ryan Getzlaf.
"I try not to think about [the stats], but I've been feeling better personally and getting on the scoresheet a little more," Silfverberg said. "I need to keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully the personal and team success will continue for the rest of the season."
The Ducks now visit the Twin Cities for Hockey Day in Minnesota, with high school and outdoor games scheduled all over the state today. Meanwhile, the Wild enter play Saturday looking to climb back in the Western Conference playoff picture, with a 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games after a 3-2 loss to Nashville on Thursday.
“I thought that we gifted them a couple goals," Minnesota coach John Hynes told NHL.com's Jessi Pierce. “I didn't think we were at our best. But I thought the goals that we gave up were attention to detail that if you're going to win these games you have to have, and [Thursday] we didn't have it.”
Minnesota and Anaheim open a three-game season series tonight, with the second and third matchups scheduled five days apart in mid-March. The Wild visit Honda Center in the series finale on Mar. 19.
Minnesota (21-22-5, 47 points) currently stands seventh in the Central Division, six points back of a playoff spot.
