The Anaheim Ducks have followed their worst stretch of the season with one of their best. They will try to keep the momentum going when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.
Anaheim brings a four-game winning streak into its second game of the season against the top team in the NHL after going 2-11-2 to plummet in the standings. The Ducks have played stronger defense and it has translated into wins despite missing their top two scorers, Troy Terry (upper body) and Leo Carlsson (lower body).
Anaheim’s goals-against average was 4.97 during a nine-game losing streak, but it has dropped to 1.69 in the four wins since, while the offensive output has not changed.
“We’ve been playing really well defensively, not giving up a ton,” forward Alex Killorn said after Monday night’s 5-3 win over the New York Rangers. “That’s been a huge reason why we’ve been successful, especially with the guys we have out of our lineup, guys that are huge offensive tools for us.”
Without Carlsson (44 points) and Terry (42 points), Cutter Gauthier has been more productive. He celebrated his 22nd birthday with two goals against New York and now leads the Ducks with 22 and is tied with Terry in points.
Beckett Sennecke is fourth with 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) and Chris Krieder also has 15 goals, which is tied for third on the team.
The last time the Ducks came to Colorado, the Avalanche ended Anaheim’s season-long seven-game winning streak with a 4-1 win on Nov. 11.
Colorado is coming off a 5-2 win over Washington on Monday that ended a brief two-game skid. The Avalanche had lost four of six before beating the Capitals. They won without winger Valeri Nichushkin, who was a late scratch after getting into a multi-car accident on his way to the arena.
He was held out as a precaution and was skating Tuesday morning at the team’s optional practice. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters Nichushkin should be in the lineup against the Ducks.
“He had some minor injuries,” Bednar said. “Came to the rink, got checked out and everything seems to be OK. Just not good enough to play. Just a little bit of a precautionary day.”
Defenseman Devon Toews (upper body) and forwards Gabe Landeskog (upper body) and Joel Kiviranta (lower body) are sidelined, although Toews has been skating on his own.
A sign Toews could be close to returning is Colorado traded blueliner Ilya Solovyov to Pittsburgh for forward Valtteri Puustinen and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on Tuesday. Puustinen will report to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.
The Avalanche broke out of their short slump Monday behind leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon. He had two goals and an assist to reach 1,100 career points and remains in a battle with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead.
MacKinnon has a league-high 38 goals to go with 47 assists. Martin Necas is second on the team with 60 points (22 goals, 38 assists) and Cale Makar has 54 points (14 goals, 40 assists), leading all NHL defensemen in scoring.
–Field Level Media
