Smarting from a lashing in St. Louis that was over not long after it began on Thursday, the Ducks moseyed along for a weekend double dip in the Metropolitan Division.
They will exchange some Brotherly Love with the Flyers on Saturday before dealing with a Storm Watch in Carolina on Sunday.
Saturday, they’ll face what’s sure to be the most hostile Philly crowd they’ve encountered. What had typically been a mundane inter-conference matchup gained new significance when 2022 lottery pick Cutter Gauthier refused to sign with the Flyers and ended up being traded to Anaheim last January.
Gauthier, 20, has seldom if ever shied away from a braggadocious comment, most notably at last spring’s NCAA national championship game.
“There’s going to be a lot of emotions and a lot of tears for that team over there,” he said before last year’s NCAA Frozen Four final.
“That team,” the University of Denver, shed only tears of joy after they summarily blanked Gauthier’s Boston College squad, 2-0.
Since the time of the trade, his favored line has been some iteration of “circling the date on my calendar” regarding the Flyers. He inked up Dec. 28 on his agenda but not the official scoresheet as he was relatively visible but not at all impactful on the bottom line of a 3-1 loss at Honda Center.
Leading scorer Troy Terry, who had not yet joined the Ducks on the trip as of Friday afternoon following the birth of his and wife Dani’s second child, scored the only Ducks goal in that contest.
Neither side will enter this second and final clash of the campaign on a high note. Thursday, the Blues trampled the Ducks, who had just completed a strong stretch in which they had scooped up nine of a possible 12 points. Meanwhile, the Flyers have dropped four straight decisions as part of a five-losses-in-six-games stretch since beating the Ducks.
That included a critical miss worthy of a Southwest Airlines “want to get away?” commercial, when Owen Tippett slid a point-blank shot at a wide open net through the goal crease that would have sent a game against Toronto to overtime.
On Thursday, the Blues had much better accuracy than that against the Ducks. It took them only six shots to accumulate a 3-0 lead, which they’d extend to four goals en route to a 6-2 trouncing that set the Ducks’ longest road trip of the season off on the wrong foot.
Longtime Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, who was traded to St. Louis last month, joined in with an assist after a heartfelt reunion with his former teammates.
In Saturday’s all-orange affair, the Ducks will contend with another former cohort on the blue line, 2020 lottery pick Jamie Drysdale, who was at the center of the Gauthier trade.
Drysdale has an unremarkable seven points in 30 games for the Flyers this season to go with a minus-16 rating. Philly’s attack has been keyed by top producer Travis Konecny and scintillating rookie Matvei Michkov.
It’ll be on to Raleigh for a meeting with the Hurricanes on Sunday, the first of two this season. Entering their date with Vancouver Friday, Rod Brind’Amour’s bunch was tied with defending Stanley Cup champion Florida for the East’s third-best points percentage.
Martin Necas has augmented his production for Carolina but has also tapered off after a blistering start. He racked up 37 points in just 22 games at the outset of 2024-25, but amassed a modest 11 points in 20 matches since.
DUCKS AT FLYERS
When: Saturday, 4 p.m. PT
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
How to watch: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)
DUCKS AT HURRICANES
When: Sunday, 2 p.m. PT
Where: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, N.C.
How to watch: Victory+