Sitting one point below .500 in a quest for the franchise’s first winning points percentage in seven seasons, the Ducks wrap up their five-game homestand against the NHL’s worst team by record, the San Jose Sharks, on Tuesday.
They’d relished the role of spoiler, leaving the Boston Bruins pinned more tightly to the mat on Wednesday and heisting a critical point from the New York Rangers in Friday’s comeback victory.
Against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, the Ducks nearly completed another third-period wagon-circling. It could have hampered Toronto’s aspirations of winning the airtight Atlantic Division and broken a six-way tie for the most final-frame rallies in the NHL this season that included both the Ducks and Maple Leafs.
“We battled hard the whole game. We did a great job with our compete, our effort,” defenseman Jackson LaCombe said. “They’re a really good team and I thought we stuck with it, the whole time.”
Leo Carlsson tallied to extend his goal streak to three games with four goals and seven points. In March, he has 17 points in 15 games. That leads the team this month and ties Carlsson for 14th in the entire league in March. On Sunday, he went nose to nose frequently with 2022’s Hart Trophy winner, Auston Matthews.
The Ducks were off on Monday while the Sharks also rested following three games in four nights. Those began with a shootout win to upset Toronto, 6-5, but then devolved into a home loss to the Rangers and a road defeat at the hands of the Kings, which came by a gruesome 14-2 aggregate score.
Already thin entering the campaign, the Sharks further diluted and diminished toward the deadline, trading away Mikael Granlund, Cody Ceci, Fabian Zetterlund and Jake Walman, among others.
“It’s a good experience for these players, and hopefully they look back and (realize that) this was good for them, to get punched in the face a little bit, get knocked down and go through some adversity. That’s part of life,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said after Sunday’s 8-1 battering by the Kings.
While the Sharks were shelled by their enemy on Sunday, the Ducks experienced a bit of friendly fire when a third-period collision between teammates Troy Terry and Frank Vatrano sent Terry to the dressing room, likely at the behest of a concussion protocol spotter.
The Ducks confirmed to the Southern California News Group that Terry was in fact none the worse for wear, avoiding a situation like he endured last season when he was sidelined after accidentally colliding with Mason McTavish.
Defenseman Jacob Trouba, who sustained an injury in the third period during the rally against the Rangers, his former team, remained day-to-day. Oliver Kylington dressed in his stead, skating in his second game as a Duck since being acquired for future considerations just before the trade deadline, and figures to draw in again on Tuesday.
SHARKS AT DUCKS
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
TV: KCOP (Ch. 13)