Meet the next opponent, same as the last opponent.
The Ducks flew in formation to Seattle, where they’ll face the very same Kraken squad that rallied to beat them 3-2 at Honda Center on Monday.
That was a back-and-forth affair wherein the Ducks trailed by a goal, led by a goal and, ultimately, lost by a goal, as two Seattle tallies in 24 seconds to start the third period proved insuperable.
So what has to happen to reverse that result in the Emerald City?
“We’ve just got to play like we did in the first period. We were playing our game, we just got off it, it happens,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It’s not complicated, we’ve got to play to our structure and play to our system, and when we do that, we’re connected, and we can anticipate and play faster.”
The Kraken have won the past eight meetings with the Ducks to give it a .792 points percentage head-to-head since Seattle entered the league in 2021. Kraken coach Dan Bylsma, who spent roughly a decade between the Ducks and Kings organizations as a player, was not overconfident based on Monday’s outcome or his club’s historical success against the Ducks.
“We have to be aware and weary of their skill. They may be young, but they have a lot of skill throughout their lineup,” Bylsma said. “If you play a chance-for-chance game or if you give them too many opportunities, they will demonstrate that skill over and over again.”
Speaking of skilled players, Trevor Zegras hoped to keep his recent run rolling after scoring five points in five games. He had a solitary assist in his previous dozen games before this spurt.
“He’s skating more. He’s more engaged, he’s more physical and he’s getting into people defensively. When he has open ice, he can make plays,” Cronin said. “As he continues to build more confidence in his skating and his ability to separate people from pucks, he’ll become [even] more visible.”
While the Ducks have had little in the way of consistent producers this season – in part due to injuries as Mason McTavish just returned after a six-game absence, only to see Leo Carlsson go down with an upper-body injury that has left him doubtful for Wednesday – leading scorer Troy Terry continued to solidify his presence and become more assertive. Monday, he assisted on both Ducks goals and generated dangerous opportunities for himself as well.
“I think that’s a game that he’s going to want to play every game,” Cronin said.
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For Seattle, aspiring center Shane Wright may want to play the Ducks every game, given that two of his three career multi-point showings have come against them. He had a goal to open the scoring Monday and a primary assist on Brandon Montour’s game-winning blast from the point.
Montour, who began his NHL journey with the Ducks and won a Stanley Cup in Florida, has scored a goal in three straight games across which he has notched four points.
Ducks at Seattle
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
How to watch: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)