Seeking to stop the bleeding from a stretch in which they’ve snagged just four of a possible 16 points, the Ducks turned their attention to another group of aquatic birds, the Pittsburgh Penguins, with whom they’ll square off Thursday at Honda Center.
Winning seven of 11 games was not a numerical omen of good fortune for the Ducks, who’ve since dropped seven of eight decisions with only a pair of overtime losses and an OT win to soften the blow.
Most recently, they played a pair of competitive contests against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, matching pace and intensity but failing to seal the deal in either match. An empty-net goal damned them to a three-score loss in Florida on Saturday and an early third-period surge did the same Tuesday at Honda Center.
“We’ve got to find a way to keep battling. I thought there was a little bit of a lull there, like, ‘Oh, boy,’” Cronin said. “We’ve just got to battle, you’ve got to keep playing and keep battling, it doesn’t matter what the score is.”
During Tuesday’s second period, the Ducks did not score but had perhaps their strongest stanza of the season in terms of sustained possession and pressure. A lack of offensive-zone time has placed undue stress on the Ducks’ goalies and defensemen, something that will need to be rectified if they want to reify their visions of pressing for a playoff berth.
“That’s what you want your team to play like. They have the ability to do that at any point in the game,” Cronin said.
The Ducks’ opponents on Thursday, who last played Monday when they shellacked the Kings 5-1, hardly share the same lack of experience or confidence. Three-time Stanley Cup champions Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, as well as three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, are all veterans well into their 30s.
They faced the Ducks in Pittsburgh on Halloween, prevailing in overtime 2-1, behind leading scorer Crosby’s third-period equalizer and overtime winner. Cronin said he was impressed with the Pens’ game in October, since which they’ve demoted shaky starting goalie Tristan Jarry and turned the net over to Alex Nedeljkovic.
“With Malkin, Crosby, Letang and Karlsson, they’ve got some offensive weapons. We’ve got to be aware of that and we’ve got to get back to the way we played when we were successful,” Cronin said.
Crosby contributed a goal and an assist in the trouncing of the Kings, with Malkin adding a marker and Letang chipping in a helper while Karlsson dazzled by way of a silky stretch pass and some slick stickhandling that turned back the clock.
One player that was absent for that match was former Ducks winger and leading Pittsburgh goal-scorer Rickard Rakell. He was back in Pittsburgh attending to a family matter, but has now joined the team on the trip, making him a solid bet to skate Thursday.
For the Ducks, Isac Lundeström appears to have escaped any serious consequence from a grisly knee-on-knee hit he received from Florida’s Sam Reinhart on Saturday. Lundeström missed Tuesday’s game but appears to be an option Thursday. Brock McGinn, on the other hand, underwent successful reconstructive surgery on his knee, and will miss the next seven to nine months.
Pittsburgh at Ducks
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Honda Center
How to watch: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)