The Anaheim Ducks have not found any answers to their dismal start to the season. Maybe a week in Canada will do the trick.
The Ducks are scheduled to open a five-game road trip against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
The trip also will take them through Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton before it wraps up against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 20.
Anaheim heads out with the fewest points in the NHL and owning just one win in regulation this season.
The Ducks have lost seven of their past eight games (1-5-2), most recently getting bowled over by the visiting San Jose Sharks 6-1 on Friday night.
“You can’t really feel sorry for yourself, this league is too relentless,” Ducks forward Sam Carrick said. “We’ll move on and look to have a good road trip here.”
Anaheim is 2-11-3 on the road so far this season, while going a combined 0-5-2 on their last two trips.
“It’s frustrating,” Carrick said. “As a whole group here, we’re all in this together. The only way we are going to get out of it is together.”
Carrick said a good place to start would be better situational awareness when the Ducks come through the neutral zone with the puck.
“I think we can do a little bit better job of recognizing when to get the puck deep and when to make plays,” he said.
Lukas Dostal likely will make his season debut as the starter in goal for Anaheim.
Anthony Stolarz sustained a lower-body injury in relief of John Gibson against the Sharks and did not travel with the team. Gibson left the game after two periods because of an illness, and did accompany the team to Ottawa.
The Ducks also play on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Gibson could be saved for that game.
Dostal, a third-round pick by Anaheim in the 2018 NHL Draft, made four appearances last season for the Ducks, including three starts. He was 1-2-0 with a 2.98 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.
The Senators are coming off a 3-2 road victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, giving them three out of four points on a brief two-game trip.
Ottawa coach D.J. Smith has been happy with the production coming from the line of Shane Pinto, Drake Batherson and Alex DeBrincat.
DeBrincat has five points (one goal, four assists) in a five-game point streak, and Batherson has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak.
“They were our best line (Saturday) night,” Smith said. “Drake’s best game in a long time. He’s physical, he’s big, he’s all over the puck, and if they are going to give us that every night, it gives us a lot more options and it makes it harder, certainly, for the other team to check us.”
The Senators likely will start Cam Talbot in goal.
Talbot is 15-7-2 in 24 career games against the Ducks and beat them on Nov. 25 at Anaheim, stopping 31 of 32 shots in a 5-1 victory. He was denied a shutout when the Ducks scored with 2:50 remaining.
–Field Level Media
