After a harsh reminder that no team in the NHL can be taken lightly, the Ducks will face a couple of the league’s best clubs from last season when they travel to Edmonton Tuesday before heading to Vancouver Wednesday.
They were shown up by the lowly, undermanned Chicago Blackhawks and their blistering third line –– its members combined for seven points in Saturday’s 6-3 win, leaping to 33 points in their past 10 games –– in an effort more befitting of last year’s valleys than recent peaks.
The Ducks next face the Oilers, who came within one win of the Stanley Cup last season, and the Canucks, who were 2023-24’s most improved team but now find themselves fighting for their playoff lives in a campaign fraught with upheaval. This year, the Ducks have split the season series with both opponents.
Getting above a split, not only with these two Western Canadian franchises but with a 32-team field that’s left the Ducks precisely at a .500 points percentage, may depend on special-teams play.
The Ducks have scored just 20 power-play goals, the second fewest in the NHL, while surrendering 44, the fourth most goals allowed on the penalty kill. That -24 differential is more than twice as wide as the gap between the Ducks’ five-on-five goals for and against.
“The power play has been a challenge. The penalty-killing has its streaks, then it goes a little bit sideways,” Coach Greg Cronin said. “If we can clean that up — you think about the five-on-five goals we’re pretty close to being even, but it’s on special teams where we can get a real advantage.”
The Ducks converted on two power-play chances early in Buffalo to close out their last road trip, including a Leo Carlsson goal, but crumbled in the third period under the weight of a third game in four nights after the first two went to overtime. While they couldn’t sustain their verve in that affair, it was part of a stretch that has seen Carlsson rack up nine points in eight games, including two goals against Chicago in Saturday’s loss.
“You know, it doesn’t feel great at the moment [after a loss], but it’s something that I can take with me. I felt more confident after the [4 Nations Face-Off] break, too,” said Carlsson, who represented Sweden at the event.
Cronin pointed to Carlsson’s moving his legs more and cutting more into the middle third of the ice. Carlsson settled a chaotic sequence calmly and roofed a backhand from close range for his first goal, and then carried the puck across three zones before pulling up for a precise shot from just above the right faceoff dot.
“That’s where he’s going to score his goals, in that inner circle there,” Cronin said.
Awaiting Carlsson and cohorts in Edmonton will be the man who scored the tournament-winning goal at 4 Nations, Connor McDavid, and a short-list favorite for every major award this season, Leon Draisaitl. Their combined 165 points to date are the most by two teammates in 2024-25. Defenseman Darnell Nurse should see his first action since Feb. 25 after surmounting a minor injury.
Then, it’ll be on to Vancouver, where the Canucks are part of a crowded field jockeying for the final wild-card spot that also includes the Ducks, Cam Fowler’s St. Louis Blues, Utah HC and the berth’s current holder, the Calgary Flames.
Vancouver traded J.T. Miller and rumors have swirled around Elias Pettersson as well. Star goalie Thatcher Demko is back on injured reserve. All-world defenseman Quinn Hughes recently returned from injury to face both SoCal franchises, but will be a game-time decision on Wednesday. He had three assists against the Ducks in a game on Nov. 5, and in his career he’s compiled 17 points across 15 meetings with the Ducks.