"I think it's a high percentage play if you can pick it up on your stick," Zegras said afterwords. "Not a lot of goalies are expecting it. If I have a little bit of space, I don't see why not. It's like a wraparound. It's something I work on quite a bit and it's nice to see it translate over."
It was two step forwards but one step back for the Ducks on the injury front in Montreal. Two critical veteran players returned to the lineup, Josh Manson (COVID-19 protocol) and Adam Henrique (lower-body), and the club briefly appeared to be inching closer to a full-strength lineup.
Captain Ryan Getzlaf left that game in the first period though, following a high-sticking infraction by Canadiens forward Laurent Dauphin, and did not return. Getzlaf's status is considered day-to-day. The 17-year pro leads Anaheim in assists (23) and is tied for third among team leaders in scoring (3-23=26).
Milano and forward Max Jones remain on injured reserve.
The Ducks (22-16-8) sit second in the Pacific Division in points, one by first-place Vegas, and fourth by point percentage (.565).
Anaheim will visit Detroit to close the five-game trip on Monday, before heading into the NHL's All-Star Break. Troy Terry and John Gibson will represent the Ducks in the All-Star Game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, while Zegras will participate in the Breakaway Challenge.
The Senators host the Ducks as part of a four-game homestand and are currently riding a four-game point streak (2-0-2).
Anaheim won the first meeting between the clubs in November at Honda Center,
a 4-0 Black Friday shutout
in which Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves.
Ottawa is dealing with a plethora of injuries to its forward group, and those struggles got worse Thursday night in Carolina when promising youngster Josh Norris suffered an upper-body injury on an awkward collision into the boards.
Norris joins All-Star forward Drake Batherson, Colin White, Dylan Gambrell, Connor Brown, Shane Pinto and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev on Ottawa's injured list.
The Senators are seventh in the top-heavy Atlantic Division (13-20-4, 30 points).
