ANAHEIM — The Ducks’ peaks this season have found a way of taking them to the Mile High City.
They won seven straight games in November before falling to the Colorado Avalanche, 4-1, in Denver. Their next streak of four or more victories arrived in January, with their fifth win in another string of seven coming at Ball Arena, 2-1 in a shootout.
That night, the Ducks got a goal from Jeffrey Viel just 87 seconds into the contest and then spent most of the next 63 minutes on the ropes in a bout wherein Lukáš Dostál made 40 saves to his counterpart Scott Wedgewood’s 16.
Now, on a five-game rip that’s part of a 12-of-14 run, the Ducks finally get to host the NHL-pacing Avs on Tuesday night.
“They’re a great team. We will have our hands full,” said Ducks coach Joel Quenneville, who was part of the Avs’ first Stanley Cup title as an assistant coach in 1996. “Certainly, we know we will have a lot to talk about facing that team.”
One thing the Ducks won’t have to belabor is the shootout, which gave them a win over the Avs back in January, another over the Calgary Flames on Sunday and seven in seven opportunities overall this season.
Mason McTavish has been the Ducks’ not-so-secret weapon. Though he missed the triumph in Colorado and the shootout ended before his slot in the rotation (third) came up against Pittsburgh, he has not only converted on all five of his shootout attempts this year but all five goals have been clinchers.
Yet McTavish is otherwise riding a five-game goalless drought, one that extends all the way back to Jan. 19 between his injury and the Olympic break chewing up much of that time.
In all, McTavish has 13 goals and 31 points in 54 games, thus far not rekindling the consistency or menace of his stretch run after a tepid first half last season. He’s on pace for 19 goals and 44 points. That represents a dip in production despite the Ducks’ offense and power play both performing significantly better overall, in addition to McTavish himself inking a six-year, $42 million contract extension in what figures to be the outset of his prime.
With the addition of productive veterans and, more critically, the growth of cornerstones like Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier, McTavish’s malaise has been easy to overlook. Carlsson has five points in three games since returning from a thigh injury and Gauthier has five goals in as many appearances, including both Ducks tallies’ against Calgary.
His third-period equalizer was a one-timer from the right faceoff dot, but his first goal was less conventional, keeping the puck moving with a pair of shots from in front of the crease and then scoring off a third that he banked in off the mask and back of opposing goalie Devin Cooley.
“He can shoot it, he likes to shoot it and he shoots it from all over,” Quenneville said. “He gets that element of surprise with the quickness of his shot and it’s a little heavier than you might think. He’s got a knack for being in the right area where he doesn’t wait, he doesn’t ask questions, he’s shootin’.”
The Ducks will need those core players and everyone in their periphery on Tuesday when they host the Avs a night after they’ll have faced the Kings in interim coach D.J. Smith’s debut.
Colorado has the most points, wins, regulation wins, goals for and shots on goal in the NHL this season. They have allowed the fewest goals, posted the third most shutouts and turned in the No. 3 penalty kill percentage. That has all predictably produced the league’s best goal differential, nearly 20 goals better than the next most effective team and nearly 40 goals above the next best balance sheet in the Western Conference.
AVALANCHE AT DUCKS
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
How to watch: ESPN+, Victory+