The Anaheim Ducks host the Boston Bruins in a Wednesday night cross-conference matchup of two teams looking to keep their ultra-slim playoff hopes alive with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
Boston has lost six straight games (0-5-1), including the first three of a five-game road trip after a 7-2 drubbing Sunday at the Los Angeles Kings. The Bruins (30-33-9, 69 points) enter Tuesday sitting six points below the Eastern Conference playoff cut line.
During the current skid, which began after a March 11 win over the Florida Panthers, the Bruins have scored more than two goals only once while allowing at least five on four occasions.
“I wish I knew (how to end the streak),” Bruins center Casey Mittelstadt said. “I think it comes down to just coming out and playing hard. Obviously, you get in a slump like this and maybe you’re gripping your stick a little more than normal. It comes down to just coming out and playing your game, playing with some poise and some calm.”
As he has been often this season, Morgan Geekie was a bright spot in Los Angeles. He reached the 25-goal mark in that game while Elias Lindholm also scored.
Since he signed an eight-year, $66 million contract in October, Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman has endured a largely difficult season (.892 save percentage).
Swayman has lost six of his eight March decisions, allowing four or more goals in each of the last four.
“I want to give this team a chance to win every night, and I haven’t done that in the last two games, so that’s something that I’m going to work on,” he said. “I’m not giving up. I’m keeping my chin up. I’m not getting the results right now, but I owe these guys better. I owe a hell of a lot of people a lot better and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who suffered a shoulder injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off last month, returned to Tuesday practice wearing a non-contact jersey.
“He joined us on Sunday night. There’s still no timeline. He won’t play on this trip. But it’s good to have him here, it’s good to see him on the ice with his teammates,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “I just think it’s a good boost for the morale of the team to have him around.”
The Ducks have had a mixed bag of results lately, going 1-1-1 in their last three games. A 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday kept them 13 points out of a playoff spot with 12 to play entering Tuesday.
Prior to Sunday’s start of a five-game homestand, however, four of Anaheim’s six previous losses were by one goal.
“We don’t like that the playoff race is getting away from us, but we thought we played really good games where we were hanging in and staying relevant in those games,” Anaheim captain Radko Gudas said. “At this time of year, pretty much every team is in playoff mode, so it’ll be a fun challenge for us to see how some of the older, more experienced teams handle things.”
The trio of Alex Killorn, Jackson LaCombe and Trevor Zegras has been hot of late, combining for five goals and seven points in the last two games. Before the loss to Carolina, Anaheim capped a three-game trip with a 4-1 win at the Nashville Predators.
Killorn has now scored in back-to-back and four of his last six games, giving him 17 goals on the season.
“(Killorn) wasn’t playing at his best earlier this year, but he’s played really well (recently),” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “He helps Leo (Carlsson) out because he’s got that age and that experience. When he’s skating, he’s more visible.”
An Achilles’ heel in the latest Anaheim loss was an 0-for-6 showing on the power play, where the Ducks click at 12.6 percent, second-worst in the NHL.
Boston’s unit is not much better at 14.6 percent, fourth from the bottom.
–Field Level Media
