Leaping off a decisive win over one floundering “Original Six” franchise, the Ducks will host another when they face the New York Rangers on Friday night at Honda Center.
The Ducks’ 6-2 triumph on Wednesday marked the Boston Bruins’ seventh straight loss and also signified a season-series sweep at the hands of the Ducks. They lost to the Rangers, 2-1, way back on Oct. 26, and will seek a split from a bunch of Blue Shirts that have lost eight of their past 11 games, most recently falling to the Kings, 3-1. Boston and New York made the playoffs and advanced last season, Boston to Round 2 and the Rangers to the conference finals, but both are in peril of missing this year’s cut.
Friday will mark the median of a five-game homestand that will see the Ducks face the competitive Toronto Maple Leafs and lowly San Jose Sharks as well. Against Boston, they scored six goals to move to 11-0-0 when scoring five or more times in a game this season, and all five goal-scorers were 23 or younger.
“There are 11 games left, it’s a great opportunity to have a great end of the season and build momentum going into next season as well,” said Ducks veteran Alex Killorn, who has two goals and four points during a three-game scoring streak. “(Our less-experienced players) are doing a good job. We’ve got a lot of guys that are young and it’s nice to see them step up.”
Killorn, a Harvard alumnus who is one of several Ducks with some ties to Boston, said the Ducks’ dressing room was enthused by the team’s performance Wednesday but still attuned to the challenges ahead.
“I’m really happy with the way we handled it, but we have two really good opponents coming in for the rest of this week, so we look forward to those games,” Killorn said.
Jackson LaCombe and Leo Carlsson were foremost among the Ducks’ performers, with Carlsson scoring shorthanded and then tallying off a patient feed from LaCombe, who also netted a goal Wednesday. LaCombe shouldered significant defensive responsibility, lining up opposite Czech superstar David Pastrnak, who needed a tightly executed play off a faceoff and a two-man advantage to find the score sheet. Pastrnak also coughed up the puck twice leading to goals, including a takeaway by LaCombe that led directly to Carlsson’s second goal.
Against New York, they’ll have another high-end import to contend with in Russian Artemi Panarin, the Rangers’ leading scorer by a nearly 20-point margin, though he was held scoreless by the Kings and by the Vancouver Canucks the game prior, an improbable Rangers victory.
Panarin, 2021 Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and goalie Igor Shesterkin are the marquee names on the Rangers, though Shesterkin hasn’t been in top form despite having signed the most lucrative contract in NHL history for a goalie earlier this season.
He’s won just three of his past 10 decisions, but he keeps getting the nod in net. If he goes against the Ducks, it will be a career-high ninth consecutive start for the St. Petersburg SKA product. Overall, he’s on track for a career-worst save percentage, career-worst goals-against average and his first losing record at any level of competition, in any country.
Upheaval has defined the Rangers’ campaign, with offseason drama spilling over into the 82-game schedule. That led them to trade captain Jacob Trouba to the Ducks, and it will be his first matchup against the team he helped to two Eastern Conference finals series. More departures followed, including the jettisoning of former No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko to Seattle.
NEW YORK RANGERS AT DUCKS
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
TV: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)