The Ducks will take the ice bright and early today for a Presidents Day matinee, squaring off with the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
PUCK DROP: 9:30 A.M. PT | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER
Anaheim now hits the end of a four-game eastern road trip that's seen a wide range of ups and downs, a pair of lopsided losses to Montreal and Toronto bookending a solid performance in a 5-1 win over Ottawa.
The loss in Toronto got out of hand early, as the Ducks allowed four first-period goals and struggled on the penalty kill.
“We stood around and watched them skate around the ice for the better part of the first period,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “I think the quick goals they got put us on our heels. They had three power-play goals in the first period. It’s a terrible start. It’s not the way you design it. Just a bad start.”
The loss dropped Anaheim to 19-33-2 on the season, 11-15-1 on the road and 1-2-0 on this trip. The Ducks sit seventh in the Pacific Division with 28 games to play.
“We just didn’t have any bite,” Cronin said. “It was the exact opposite of Ottawa, where we were going out hunting pucks down, closing gaps quickly, and we just didn’t have any of that. A lot of it has to do with Toronto, too. They came out the way we should have come out.”
The Ducks now turn their attention to the trip's finale, a rematch with a similarly rebuilding Sabres squad looking for revenge on home ice. Anaheim earned a 4-2 win at Honda Center over Buffalo last month, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead and holding on through a fierce push by the visitors late in the third period.
"We were skating. I thought we played hard," Cronin said that night. "I thought we did the right things as far as managing the puck. They're offensively a very talented team. Their expected goals [rate] is high because they generate a lot from both the back end and the forwards. One of our keys was to make sure you manage the puck well."
On the other side, Buffalo head coach Don Granato said his team's compete "wasn't there" in the 4-2 defeat.
"You get to the net, you get rewarded," Granato said. "You don't get rewarded, you don't get to the net. [We] lost puck battles and in the third period you saw a difference in that regard and that was the difference in the whole game."
The Sabres have gone 4-3-0 since that setback just prior to the NHL All-Star Break, including a pair of victories over the Kings and an overtime triumph against the Wild on Saturday.
“Credit to our guys to fight through there,” Granato told NHL.com's Jessi Pierce. “Kept it simple...Good finish, good effort, and I loved the way it happened.
“We had a lot of guys who didn’t look like themselves. I don’t think [they] felt like themselves, but [we] had to find a way to grind it out under a lot of adversity late."
Buffalo (24-26-4, 52 points) sits sixth in the Atlantic Division, 13 points out of a Wild Card position.
