From one back-to-back set of games to another, the Ducks traveled north to face the San Jose Sharks on Thursday ahead of their home game against the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
The Ducks managed to extract a solitary point from their meetings with the Kings and Nashville Predators over the weekend, which Coach Greg Cronin lamented, saying his club “deserved better,” particularly than it got in its regulation loss to Nashville at home.
Now, Cronin said his group’s goal was to have a winning record in March, which would mark the first time since a 5-4-0 October in which the Ducks finished a calendar month in the black this season. He hoped to continue to improve on the forecheck, where the Ducks have been able to generate more offensive-zone time of late.
“We are continuing to find ways to become a puck-possession team,” Cronin said via text. “This usually starts with breaking out of your own zone efficiently and getting through the neutral zone vertically. This behavior usually leads to a hunting mentality where we can recover pucks on the forecheck or into the zone cleanly on rushes.”
Forward Isac Lundeström, who tallied against Nashville and made some key defensive plays against the Kings, emphasized strong starts and even efforts.
“We have to come out hunting the D and playing a simple game. We’ve also got to find a way to do it over 60 minutes,” Lundeström said after the loss to the Predators.
The Ducks have taken two of three showdowns from the Sharks this season and beaten the Devils in their only clash. Former Devil Adam Henrique’s first career hat trick powered the Ducks past New Jersey in Newark on Dec. 17. In that same game, Troy Terry tallied.
Terry sustained an upper-body injury against the Kings and missed the match against Nashville, but did travel to San Jose, making him a possibility to return Thursday. Terry also scored the equalizer and set up the game-winner for Frank Vatrano, who had two goals in the Ducks’ first…
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