ANAHEIM –– The Ducks have not accumulated any frequent flyer miles since the end of January, but will jetset to glamorous winter destinations like Winnipeg and Ottawa during their four-game road trip.
They played nine straight games at Honda Center between Feb. 1 and March 8, winning seven of them but finishing the stretch with a lifeless performance against an enlivened St. Louis Blues team.
Former Ducks alternate captain Cam Fowler brought his “A” game to move to 4-1-0 against his former club, with the Blues doubling up the Ducks 22-11 in those contests and Fowler contributing five points.
On balance, however, the Ducks liked their performance during their lengthy residency and could even live with a power play that went 0-for-6 against the Blues, given its recent uptick in conversion rate.
“In nine straight [games], you’re going to find something wrong with one or two of them. No excuses, that’s just the way it works,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Since the conclusion of a nine-game freefall that threatened to derail Quenneville’s first season as head coach, the Ducks have gone 14-4-0, posting the second best points percentage in the NHL behind resurgent Columbus and ascending to the top of the Pacific Division.
Forward Mikael Granlund returned to action but the Ducks were still two players short, new acquisition on the blue line John Carlson (lower-body injury) and dynamic right winger Troy Terry (upper-body injury). They will both travel, with Carlson targeting a return during the consecutive clashes that will close out the journey and Terry being somewhat doubtful to play at all, per Quenneville.
The Ducks will travel to Winnipeg on Tuesday, Toronto on Thursday and finish with a back-to-back weekend set against Ottawa and Montreal.
They have already won the season series against the Jets, taking both meetings to date. This will be the first of two matchups with the Maple Leafs, while they’ll be seeking a split with the Senators after slipping 3-2 on Nov. 20. In one of the most thrilling games of the season, the Ducks bested the Canadiens in a shootout on Friday.
Winnipeg had been perhaps the biggest disappointment in pro hockey this year, going from winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season to enduring a stretch that made them one of the league’s bottom-dwellers, including an 11-game winless stretch. They are back on their game now though, with three straight wins and a six-game points streak since the Olympic break. Former Kings forward Gabe Vilardi recently told RG Media that the Jets have a strong internal belief despite a sizable gap in the standings.
Toronto has also experienced a downturn. After winning the intense Atlantic Division last year, they dangle precariously near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with few realistic aspirations of a tenth straight postseason berth, especially while riding out an active seven-game skid.
Ottawa is on the wrong side of the playoff bubble and Montreal is on the right side of it. While the Sens have taken a defensive posture under Travis Green, Martin St. Louis’ Habs present many parallels to the Ducks as a young, skilled team that can outscore its deficiencies and persevere when trailing. Of their past 10 outings, nine have resulted in at least a point and they’ve earned 15 of 20 overall.
A day after the Ducks tied it up against the Habs in the final gasps of a game they won in a shootout to tie Montreal for the most comeback wins in the league this season, the Canadiens struck twice in under a minute to upend the Kings, reclaiming sole possession of first place.