Ducks at Sharks, 7p.m., BSSC; Rangers at Kings, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 9
Chernobyl status.
Not long ago, the Kings and Rangers were jockeying around the top of the NHL’S points percentage leaderboard while clubs like Nashville and the archrival Edmonton Oilers, who’ve eliminated the Kings in consecutive first rounds of the postseason, were staring up at them. On Thursday, both the Predators and Oilers leapfrogged the Kings, relegating them to a wild-card spot and leaving them outside of the present playoff puzzle.
The steely Quick could be showing a rare grin postgame, as he hasn’t been the only former Kings goalie to enfeeble his old chums this season. Martin Jones shut them out at home in perhaps their poorest performance during their ongoing catastrophe and even Cal Petersen got his first win since November of 2022 when he, former Kings defenseman Sean Walker and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Kings on Nov. 11.
General Manager Rob Blake seemed resigned to the fact that the salary-cap crunch caused by his offseason moves, was a fact of life rather than something of his own doing in a 15-minute session with local media on Thursday. After previously respond- ing with a platitude about making the team better in regards to his hindsight view of the Quick trade and how it was handled, he had another oppor- tunity Thursday when he was asked by the AP’S Dan Greenspan.
“I’m not sure there,” Blake responded in a hastened cadence. “I think he should be remembered this weekend for (being) the best goalie in our organization, and celebrated that way, yes.”
Last stop on Ducks' long trip
Coming off a three-day break, the Ducks will vault into two games in two nights and in two cities, as they travel to San Jose to play the Sharks today and then return home to face the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Today’s game will effectively close their longest road trip of the season, which could end with a respectable .500 points percentage if they manage to defeat another of one of the NHL’S worst teams by record.
The Ducks are seeking to establish and reinforce sound habits while creating more fluidity in their game.
“We are focusing on our growth as a group. We need to establish more consistency offensively and defensively, as was evident in the last four games,” Greg Cronin said via text.