The Ducks have won two of three games on their homestand and will next get a crack at a Dallas Stars club that beat them by one goal in two prior meetings.
The Stars have made a habit of winning one-goal games, as their 21 victories by the narrowest of margins are four more than any other team this season. The Ducks, conversely, have the most regulation losses in the NHL by one goal.
Yet since their overtime defeat in Dallas on Jan. 25, the Ducks have gone 5-1-1 in one-goal games. Three of those five victories belonged to rookie Lukáš Dostál, including a 52-save performance against New Jersey that kickstarted this homestand and Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Ottawa.
“What I see is a guy that’s incredibly competitive. He’s a gamer. He takes ownership of his game. When things don’t go well, he’s the first one that will look in the mirror and say ‘I could have done a better job,’” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.
Cronin said that through his own innate sense of the game and his work with goalie coach David Rook, Dostál had developed an ability to elevate his game to make timely saves and slough off regrettable goals.
“He might let one in early that’s a savable puck, but he uses that as a catalyst to be better,” Cronin continued.
The Ducks enter this matchup depleted by injuries and trades. Winger Troy Terry was a late scratch against Ottawa and will be questionable versus Dallas. John Gibson has recovered from his illness but might back up the hot hand of Dostál just the same. If neither plays, the Ducks will have eight different faces in their lineup from each of their prior meetings with the Stars (the first was at home on Oct. 19) as a result of trades and injuries. They’ve now jettisoned four roster players (Jamie Drysdale, Ilya Lyubushkin, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick) without receiving anyone to put in a jersey immediately in return.
Meanwhile, Terry, Mason McTavish (who shed his walking boot), Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras and Brock McGinn were all likely to rejoin the team before season’s end. The Ducks also acquired a prospect center, Jan Mysak, from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for prospect winger Jacob Perreault on Thursday. Their most prominent prospect up front, Boston College’s Cutter Gauthier, will likely join the Ducks when his NCAA campaign concludes.
“There’s lots of players that would be really impactful that aren’t playing right now,” said Olen Zellweger, a rookie who’s excelled since his recall. “It gives an opportunity for some guys to step in and show what they can contribute. That’s cool, too, and it’ll be really fun to see those other guys back on the ice.”
Dallas leads the Central Division and has been a buyer at the deadline, thus far adding rugged rearguard Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames.
They’ve also been buoyed by their own call-up, Logan Stankoven, who has notched eight points in his first six NHL games. That included a four-point explosion in a 7-6 overtime victory against the Sharks on Tuesday in which he and linemates Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn accounted for all seven goals. His call-up enabled his minor-league teammate, Mavrick Bourque, to overtake the American Hockey League scoring lead. The parent club is paced in scoring by Arcadia native Jason Robertson.
Swapping skates for sneakers
The Ducks and another Anaheim-born entity, the footwear brand Vans, have been teasing their first-of-its-kind collaboration for months, and on Sunday all three Vans X Anaheim Ducks designs will be available at the Honda Center’s team store.
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Ahead of their clash with the New York Islanders, the Ducks will arrive to the arena sporting either the orange checkered slip-ons adorned with a multitude of Ducks logos or one of two high-top “Sk8 Hi” models, one featuring a black/yellow colorway with the Ducks 30th anniversary insignia and another in the original jade green and plum purple colorway with the classic Ducks crest. Each pair also includes a special box replete with Ducks 30th anniversary branding.
This is Vans’ first collaboration with a pro sports franchise. It’s also unique in that it’s a collaboration outside the purview of league-wide licensing rights. The Ducks had previously collaborated with Adidas, as had other NHL teams, much as NFL franchises had with Nike, but both were under the broader scope of an agreement for those brands to outfit the entire league.
Dallas at Ducks
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Honda Center
TV: Bally Sports SoCal