The Ducks (15-8-1) hit the road for the first of two games with a matchup against the Blackhawks (10-9-5) in Chicago. Puck drop is set for 12:30 p.m. PT and will air on Victory+ and KCOP-13.
Anaheim enters this game off a huge 5-4 shootout win over the Kings on Black Friday. The team overcame three separate deficits in the matchup and scored the game-tying goal within the final two minutes of regulation.
That goal came courtesy of Leo Carlsson, who had three points on the afternoon, additionally assisting on Chris Kreider and Olen Zellweger’s goals on the day.
After a scoreless overtime period, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish scored in the shootout with Mac-T clinching the victory for the home team. Ville Husso, who was recalled from San Diego on Wednesday, had 23 saves in his first NHL start of the season.
The win gave the Ducks a two-point lead over the Kings to extend their reign atop the Pacific Division.
"We had some success with the goalie out and some fortunate breaks in that time of the game," head Joel Quenneville said. "(I) know we shouldn't rely on that, but it was obviously a huge win for us.”
While starting fast is something the Ducks are still working on refining, their resilience was on display in the win, showing just how hard they are for opposing teams to put away. Their nine comeback wins are good for the second-most in the NHL next to Philadelphia (10).
“On the bench, we never feel like we’re out of the game,” Quenneville added. “It’s almost like we get more angry when we get down by one or two. We did a lot of good things to sustain some pucks, (get some) kills, clears, and some timely goals around the net.”
“Great comeback,” Chris Kreider said. “We’ve had a lot of interesting games, spotting teams leads. (It was a) good job at coming back and fighting back. It’s probably not a lot of fun for the coaches, but probably fun for the fans.”
Today’s game is the second of three regular season meetings between the Blackhawks and Ducks. Chicago bested Anaheim, 2-1, in overtime back in mid-October; however, the Blackhawks are on a five-game losing streak, most recently falling 4-3 to the Predators.
“I thought that’s what hurt us (Friday), when we don’t get the pucks out clean, when we don’t go tape-to-tape, we lack that kind of poise (and) we end up bogging ourselves down,” Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill said of the recent loss.
Connor Bedard leads the club with 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) while Tyler Bertuzzi is second on the team with 20 points (12 goals, eight assists).
