The Ducks will take the ice for their final game before the holiday break tonight, hosting the division rival Seattle Kraken at Honda Center.
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Anaheim opened its eight-game holiday homestand, and had its bid at three straight wins denied, in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Flames Thursday night.
"It was a bad night," head coach Greg Cronin said. "We couldn’t make a pass. We couldn’t shoot a puck. I think it was the worst game we’ve played all year in terms of execution."
"It was kind of a sloppy game right from the start," added Mason McTavish. "They had like 15 shots on those power plays in the second period and that kind of swung the game for them. I thought [Lukas Dostal] was unbelievable. Just a sloppy game for us."
On the injury front, Thursday's game was two steps forward and one back for the Ducks. Anaheim welcomed both defenseman Jamie Drysdale and McTavish back to action, but lost rookie Leo Carlsson in the third period of the setback.
Carlsson was injured on a collision with Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who lost his balance on the play and fell directly into Carlsson's right knee. The young centerman was helped off the ice and did not return. He did not practice with the team Friday morning and his status moving forward has not yet been announced.
“You could see it when Weegar fell on him, in any sport, when that happens, it’s not good," Cronin said. "So, I’ll leave that to the medical staff."
"You never like to see a teammate go down," Drysdale said. "Doesn’t matter who it is. I really hope he’s OK and he can bounce back quick.”
Drysdale skated on Anaheim's top defensive pair, alongside Cam Fowler, totalling two shots and two blocked shots in 17:25 of ice-time. McTavish centered a line with Max Jones and Brett Leason, also posting two shots on net.
"I thought Drysdale was really good," Cronin said. "He was jumping and generating offense. He could have had a couple goals."
"Honestly, I felt pretty good," Drysdale added. "I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but I feel good right now. So I just want to get back out there and hopefully we can turn it around next game."
That next game comes tonight against a Seattle team Anaheim is now chasing in the Pacific Division standings. The Kraken will cap a three-game road trip tonight, looking to build on 2-1 victory over the Kings on Wednesday.
“We’ve had a roller-coaster year,” winger Jordan Eberle told NHL.com's Dan Greenspan. “It seems like we’ve blown a lot of leads and lost in OT and shootouts...But these are the game that hopefully will catapult your team.”
Seattle allowed 43 shots in that win, but held LA to just seven in the third period while protecting a late lead.
"He’s been tremendous,” Brandon Tanev said of goaltender Joey Daccord. “He played another phenomenal game for us in the first period, made some great saves to keep us in it and the group kind of took off after that.”
Seattle (11-14-9, 31 points) sits sixth in the Pacific Division, seven points ahead of Anaheim.
