Preview: Ducks Open East Coast Road Trip Tonight vs. Rangers

The Ducks have flown east for the start of a four-game trip, tonight facing off with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

PUCK DROP: 4 P.M. PT | WATCH: VICTORY+ / FOX PLUS (KCOP-13) | AUDIO: DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER

Anaheim hits the road looking to build on Tuesday's 3-1 victory over San Jose at Honda Center, the already the second win of the young season against the Sharks.

"I think we were a little bit tentative to start and then we got out of that," head coach Greg Cronin said. "I thought we were moving the entire game. [San Jose] is a fast team. I’m impressed with them. I watched them play Colorado in the pre-scout and Colorado drilled us, but San Jose was with them the whole game. They’re not a zero win team, so it was a good win for us."

But maybe the biggest news of the night for the Ducks was the resurgence of a struggling power play, which had been held off the scoreboard until providing a pair of key go-ahead goals to beat the Sharks.

"It just felt like kind of a weight off," said Troy Terry, who scored the game's opening goal. "Even before that one went in on that power play specifically, I thought we were attacking the net more and shooting pucks. The other unit was shooting. I think that’s kind of the key to it and it’s nice to feel the weight kind of lifted."

"When we scored the first it was a hell of a shot by Troy, but the power plays after that, they seemed to have some confidence," Cronin said. "They were passing the puck with some zip and accuracy and I think we could’ve had another one too. The last one we came close to getting one. Power plays go on streaks, it’s very well noted early in the year when you zero for whatever. Now we got two for whatever we are. It’s a confidence builder and hopefully we can carry that into the road trip."

The win pushed Anaheim to 3-2-1 through six games heading into a trek that includes dates with the Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Penguins.

"I thought, for most of that game, we skated well and we played well," Terry said. "That was the way we want to play, and we all needed that going into the trip."

The trip begins tonight against the first-place Rangers, who have earned 11 of 14 possible standings points through seven games, but suffered their season's first loss in a 3-1 decision to Florida on Thursday.

"I didn't like the whole night," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "Everything [Thursday] goes into a bag where it wasn't good enough. You could talk about the 5-on-5 play, you could talk about the defense, the offense, the power play, the penalty kill. If you're being honest about it, none of it was really good enough."

New York's lineup includes a familiar face centering the fourth line in former Duck Sam Carrick. Carrick spent eight years in the Ducks organization, serving as the captain of the San Diego Gulls for three seasons before carving out a full-time role on Anaheim's roster. He set career highs in goals and points as a Duck during the 2021-22 campaign. Carrick has collected two points with a +4 rating in his first seven games as a Ranger.