The Anaheim Ducks will try to get back on a winning streak when they visit the struggling Vancouver Canucks in the finale of a five-game road trip on Thursday night.
The Ducks had won seven in a row before a 7-4 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night. It was the second game in two nights for Anaheim, which won 4-3 in overtime against the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
“I think we were doing a lot of good things out there, playing the right way,” Ducks forward Mikael Granlund said after notching a hat trick against Edmonton. “Everyone was doing what we can in our systems, and I think we’ve been doing a really good job for seven or eight games.”
The Canucks, on the other hand, have dropped 14 of their past 15 (1-12-2), most recently falling to the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Tuesday to fall to 1-5-0 on their eight-game homestand.
“I don’t think we played good anywhere (against the Sharks),” Vancouver defenseman Tom Willander said. “I think pretty much every detail was bad. … At least the last few times we had results like this, I think we did a decent job in many parts of our game, but today I thought was awful. I didn’t like much about my game. I have to be better with retrievals and make better plays.”
Like many teams across the league, the Ducks and Canucks are dealing with key injuries.
The Ducks have been without their top two centers, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish, as well as right wing Troy Terry.
Carlsson has missed the past eight games because of a left thigh injury that will keep him out through the Olympic break.
McTavish has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury and was sent home early in the road trip.
Terry has missed the past 10 games with an upper-body injury, but has remained day-to-day.
Granlund’s line with veteran Alex Killorn and rookie Beckett Sennecke has helped pick up the slack. Sennecke had two assists against Edmonton and his first NHL hat trick the night before against Calgary, including the overtime winner.
“That line’s been very dangerous. It does a lot of good things for us,” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said.
Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier also had an assist against the Oilers to stretch his point streak to five games (three goals, four assists).
Vancouver forward Brock Boeser is in concussion protocol after taking a hit from Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust on Sunday, which resulted in a three-game suspension for Rust.
The Canucks announced on Tuesday that defenseman Zeev Buium will likely be out until after the Olympic break after taking a puck to the face on Sunday against the Penguins, and goaltender Thatcher Demko will undergo hip surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
That likely means more playing time for Nikita Tolopilo, who stopped 25 of 27 shots in relief of Kevin Lankinen against the Sharks. His next appearance will be his 10th in the NHL.
“You always have to be ready, you never know what can happen in a game,” Tolopilo said. “I just try to stay present and get better every day and I don’t look ahead of what’s going to happen.”
–Field Level Media
