Added McGinn, "I think we worked really hard. Sometimes we make little mistakes that cost us, but we got to come in every day and find ways to win games here. I think we did a good job at getting on top of their D on our forecheck sometimes and that’s when we were getting pucks back and creating some chances. We just got to come to work tomorrow and try and come out of next game with a win."
The loss dropped Anaheim to 1-4-0 on the homestand and 5-8-2 on the season.
"I think we were growing as a group and we are playing better and better," captain Radko Gudas said. "I thought today we held our ground for most of the game and we did some great things. I thought we gave ourselves chances to be in the game all the way until the end."
An 0-for-3 night on the power play Wednesday also helped move Anaheim to 1-7-1 when scoring two goals or fewer, compared to a 4-0-1 mark when scoring at least three.
"I’ve said this, the power play’s capable of generating offense whether they score or not," Cronin said. "Like the other night, we had unbelievable chances against Columbus and we didn’t score, but you could feel the bench rise and there’s a lot of energy. [Wednesday], we had the opportunities, [down] 2-1 to start the period then 3-1. We weren’t getting the same energy and one of the things that we’ve got to do and it seems to be a common theme, is we just got to get pucks down there with net traffic. That’s an area that we are preaching as a coaching staff and presenting in practice with drills. They’ve got to take ownership of it and start trusting that when they put it down there, the odds of a shot going in increase every time there’s a rebound and a screen."
Anaheim's lineup will again include a change on the backend, with recent AHL recall Drew Helleson expected to make his season debut. Acquired from Colorado at the 2022 Trade Deadline, Helleson has skated in three career NHL games with the Ducks, scoring one goal with an even rating.
"I'm trying to play a simple role, be hard to play against in the defensive zone," Helleson said. "I want to be ending plays and getting the puck up north. We've got a lot of skilled forwards who can put the puck in the net. I've got to get it in their hands as quick as I can and let them go to work."
The 23-year-old blueliner has played 153 AHL games with San Diego across the last four seasons, this year appearing in each of the Gulls first 12 contests.
"Of course you want to be [in the NHL], that's always your goal, but sometimes it takes a bit to figure out what your role is going to be and how you can be the best at that," Helleson said. "I've come to figure out what that will be up here and it's something I've been working on all summer and the start of this year, and it's been paying off. So hopefully I can come up here and keep doing that."
Meanwhile on the other bench tonight is a Detroit squad trying to keep pace in an already competitive race for the top spots in the Atlantic Division, and tonight kicking off a three-game California road trip. The Wings last played Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, shaking off back-to-back second period goals by the Pens to earn an overtime victory on defenseman Simon Edvinsson's game-winner.
"For the most part, our first 30 minutes was a continuation of where we were the other night versus New York,” Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told the team's Jonathan Mills. “We were excellent, then we started turning the puck over. There are nights you play Pittsburgh, and they’re Pittsburgh. There are nights you play Pittsburgh that Sidney [Crosby] and [Evgeni] Malkin look like they’re going to take the game over, and this was one of those nights. I give our guys credit -- it’s tough to check those guys. Everyone in the lineup has to do it on the road, and we did it. Got it to overtime, made a play.”
Detroit (7-7-1, 15 points) sits seventh in the Atlantic Division.
