The Ducks continue a five-game homestand tonight with their final game before the NHL Trade Deadline, hosting the Ottawa Senators at Honda Center.
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Anaheim returns to action after a narrow 2-1 loss to Vancouver on Sunday denied the club a three-game winning streak. Alex Killorn scored his ninth goal of the season, tying the game at one early in the first period, but the Ducks would be unable to generate much more offense against the division-leading Canucks.
"They're a really good team. It's a good example of what we want to strive to be," Sam Carrick said of the Canucks. "They're super disciplined and it can be hard to get scoring chances against them. So, I thought we did a great job. We held them mostly to the outside. When we did [allow them inside] mistakes are going to happen, but [Lukas Dostal] stood on his head for us. I think it was a step in the right direction, but there's still more ways to improve."
Added head coach Greg Cronin, "Those games hurt, you know? Because you're in the game. The
second goal was unnecessary. We killed two penalties off in a row...We looked like we had lost our
structure. To give a tap-in goal like that, as a game-winner, that's frustrating. But, at the same time, they had more chances than we did. I don't think we generated enough."
The loss dropped Anaheim to 22-36-3 on the season, but the Ducks have earned points in three of their last five games (2-2-1) overall.
"We tried to create some offense there at the end and get [the tying goal]," rookie defenseman Olen Zellweger said. "I thought it was a pretty good effort down the stretch. [Vancouver] is the type of team we want to be in close games with."
Recalled from AHL San Diego after Anaheim dealt veteran blueliner Ilya Lyubushkin to Toronto last week, Zellweger tallied a career-high 20:06 of ice-time Sunday - finishing the game with three shot attempts, two blocked shots and one takeaway.
"I played with Cam [Fowler] and Radko [Gudas] is vocal on the bench, so those two guys are easy to lean on when you need some advice or help," Zellweger said. "It's been pretty good so far."
Anaheim now turns its focus to Ottawa for the finale of a two-game season series. The Ducks captured the first meeting last month in the Canadian capital city, getting three point nights from Fowler and Frank Vatrano plus a pair of goals from Mason McTavish in a 5-1 rout.
"Offensively, I think we were very opportunistic," Cronin said that night. "We had some cycles where we kept it in their zone for a bit...I thought our transition game was good. I felt the emphasis today was to defend, and I thought we defended hard."
Since then, the Sens have found themselves on a bit of a rollercoaster, following up a four-game point streak with four consecutive losses last week.
“We’ve got to be ready from the start,” Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg told NHL.com's Callum Fraser after Friday's loss to the Coyotes, which snapped Arizona's 14-game losing skid. “It’s been a few games where it’s been a tough start. We’ve got to try and work on getting the first goal there. It’s always easier to play [with] a lead and not chase from behind all the time.”
The Sens have also started their own trade deadline activity this week, today agreeing to send scoring winger Vladimir Tarasenko to Florida for a pair of draft picks. Tarasenko ranked fifth among team leaders in points this season, fourth in goals and tied for third in assists. The 32-year-old had tallied points in three of his last four games as a Senator.
Ottawa (25-31-3, 53 points) sits eighth in the Atlantic Division, 19 points out of a Wild Card position.
