The Ducks returned from Canada with four of six points in their back pocket, albeit with a four-point loss in their rearview mirror, and mounted up to take on yet another team from where the pines and maples grow on Monday.
They’ll host the Toronto Maple Leafs, who’ve won two of their past three games after an acrid stretch of 12 losses in 14 opportunities. One of their two victories amid that malaise came over the Ducks on March 12.
While the bottom line of their road trip was acceptable for the Ducks, the game they dropped was against the second-place Oilers in Edmonton. The Ducks started their trip up five points on Connor McDavid and company, but held just a three-point edge after stumbling 4-2 on Saturday.
“We’re first in the Pacific right now, but not by much, and little details can get overlooked and can cost you a game or a playoff series,” Cutter Gauthier told reporters in Edmonton. “We’re doing our due diligence to tighten up all those things and be ready to go, firing on all cylinders going into the playoffs.”
That loss snapped a four-game surge for the Ducks, who have owned the Western Conference’s best points percentage and points total since Jan. 11.
They’re the only Western club to place in the top six in both categories during that span. Meanwhile, Edmonton is on just its second three-game win streak of the season, allowing them to leapfrog the largely listless Vegas Golden Knights for second place in the Pacific.
On an individual level, Mikael Granlund, who powered the Ducks’ overtime win with a hat trick that accounted for all their scoring in Calgary, saw his four-game goal streak conclude with seven tallies on the same night McDavid extended his push to four contests (five goals). Veteran newcomer John Carlson got his groove back during the journey, setting up Granlund’s winner for one of seven helpers he had on what’s now a three-game assist streak.
For the Leafs, defenseman Jake McCabe had a point in each of his past three games while forward William Nylander paced them in scoring with 67 points despite missing 17 games of the campaign with a groin injury.
Former Toronto radio personality Howard Berger recently posted that he was informed by a “good source” that Toronto captain Auston Matthews –– he’s led the NHL in goals three times and points once in addition to winning both MVP and MOP honors –– would be traded in the offseason. Berger named three potential destinations for Matthews: the Ducks, Kings and Utah Mammoth.
Subsequently, other insiders cautioned against making assumptions, but in a down year for both team and player, there could be at least a modicum of truth to the rumor.