Having picked up just two of a possible 10 points thus far during their longest stretch at home this season, the Ducks will seek to salvage two more as they wrap up their residency against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.
Despite their lack of tangible results, the Ducks were satisfied with elements of their game, stretches of competition and their development process.
“Obviously, we don’t like the outcomes of the games. We thought we could pull out more wins during this homestand,” captain Radko Gudas said. “But I thought we were growing as a group, and were playing better and better.”
Forward Brock McGinn said he felt the team had more strides toward forging a stronger identity and that its efforts could soon translate into victories, something the Ducks could use desperately as they are in a four-way tie for the NHL’s lowest point total presently. Ironically, another of those four teams is the Nashville Predators, who landed multiple prominent free agents that the Ducks had also pursued this offseason.
Ducks coach Greg Cronin said he was encouraged by the team’s play in the defensive zone, asserting that it had tidied up some “shaky” facets in its own end. That progress came even as two of the Ducks’ most seasoned veterans, Cam Fowler and Robby Fabbri, landed on injured reserve this week. Center Mason McTavish should also be considered questionable at best for Friday due to an upper-body issue while Urho Vaakainen’s absence at practice, per the Sporting Tribune’s Zach Cavanaugh, could open the door for Drew Helleson’s first NHL game since June 13, 2023.
Cronin lauded the recent play of Brett Leason, who sat for the first three games of the homestand but has three points in two outings, a win over Columbus in which he scored a goal and a tight loss to Vegas in which he set up two tallies.
Cronin said Leason was the first player on the ice for extra reps at practice while he was scratched and that his outwardly calm demeanor contrasted…
Read the full article here
