The Ducks will continue their tour of eastern Canada tonight with the third of a four-game road trip, facing off with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Centre.
PUCK DROP: 4 P.M. PT | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER
Anaheim moves on to the back half of the trip looking to replicate its performance in a 5-1 win Thursday night over Ottawa. The Ducks raced out to a 4-0 lead that night thanks to a dominant second period, getting multi-point nights from five different players and 33 combined saves from Lukas Dostal and John Gibson.
"I thought our guys did a really good job," defenseman Cam Fowler said. "Nobody was happy with, not just the result of [losing 5-0 in Montreal on Tuesday], but the way that game kind of went about. We put in a lot of good work yesterday and came to the rink ready to play tonight and it showed. I'm so proud of our guys for responding that way."
"Offensively, I think we were very opportunistic," added head coach Greg Cronin said. "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."
While Fowler and Frank Vatrano led the Anaheim attack with three-point nights, it was also a special evening for one Canadian kid, Mason McTavish, who scored twice against his hometown team.
"His game was really good," Fowler said of the young centerman. "When he's at his best, I think he's involved physically like that. He's really a prototypical power forward, so he was mixing it up all night and then got on the score sheet a couple of times. I'm sure he's pumped, and he helped the team win, but it was a big night for him as well."
The win pushed Anaheim to 19-32-2 on the season and gave the club points in five of its last seven games (4-1-2).
"It started with our compete level," McTavish said. "We were forechecking, getting in on the puck and getting it back. That was the biggest thing."
"We always want to try to establish momentum, whether it's with a goal or some good back-to-back shifts, you get everyone involved in the hockey game," Fowler said. "I thought our guys got off to a really good start and then the goal really helped us. We were able to start playing four lines and getting everyone involved in the game after that. We gave ourself the best chance to win."
As the Ducks now head southeast to Toronto for the trip's final contest north of the border, a familiar face could rejoin the lineup with veteran winger Alex Killorn set to return from injury. Killorn has not played since Jan. 16 at Washington and last month had an arthroscopic left knee surgery to fix a lingering ailment. At the time of the injury, the 34-year-old had collected 11 points in his last 15 games and was tied for seventh among team leaders in scoring this season.
Next on the docket for Killorn and the Ducks though is a Maple Leafs desparately in need of two standings points as the club tries to keep pace in the competitive Eastern Conference playoff picture. Toronto earned a pair of wins on home ice this week, dispatching St. Louis 4-1 on Tuesday before an overtime victory against Philadelphia two nights later - courtesy of star center Auston Matthews' fifth hat trick of the season.
“I think it’s just building that positive momentum going forward and having these last two weeks being for the most part here at home, and then [having] a solid homestand and making sure we are taking care of business here on home ice before we get going on the [four-game] road trip,” Matthews told NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. “These are really important games for us and definitely not to be taken lightly.”
Matthews also scored the game-winner in Toronto's first matchup with Anaheim this season, a 2-1 OT victory for the Leafs at Honda Center despite 55 saves from Dostal.
Toronto (28-16-8, 64 points) sits fourth in the Atlantic Division by points, and third by point percentage (.615), currently holding the East's top Wild Card position.
