Preview: Ducks Battle Sharks in Preseason Rematch

The Ducks will get right back to work on tonight for the second half of a preseason back-to-back, hosting the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center.

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Anaheim improved to 2-0-0 for the 2023 preseason last night with a 4-2 win over the Sharks at SAP Center. The Ducks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to first-period goals from Brett Leason, Sam Carrick and Olen Zellweger, and shut the door in the third to prevent a comeback effort for the hosts.

"We're trying to create that hunting mentality," head coach Greg Cronin said postgame. "We forechecked really well and there were tight gaps defensively. I thought we had a lot of chances offensively."

Carrick (2-1=3) and Zellweger led Anaheim offensively with multi-point efforts. Carrick has four points in Anaheim's first two preseason games, while Zellweger now owns three points in four career NHL exhibition appearances.

"He's obviously a very dynamic offensive player," Cronin said of Zellweger. "We're trying to change his value system from being offensive first to being responsible defensively. I thought tonight he was really good. He didn't get beat one-on-one. He was smart when he got involved in the wall battles.

"He's not long and he's not tall, and he's not a big, thick kid, so he has to be cognizant of where he is in these attack lanes to the net. If he can do that and get confidence, his offense is going to continue to grow."

Anaheim will host San Jose for the club's third of eight preseason games, the second of three to be played at Honda Center. The Ducks will also visit San Diego, Palm Springs, Tucson and Los Angeles to round out the preseason.

A live stream of tonight's game will be available on AnaheimDucks.com and the Ducks screen of the NHL app, featuring San Diego Gulls play-by-play voice Aaron Cooney and Ducks Stream color analyst Emerson Etem.

Anaheim's expected roster for tonight's game will be posted later today.