Ducks, Flames look to extend modest winning streaks
Correspondent
The Ducks will look to keep the fire burning against the Calgary Flames tonight at Honda Center, where both teams will be seeking their third straight victory.
It will be the commencement of a seasonlong homestand that will span eight games from tonight’s contest until the Jan. 7 game against the Red Wings, whom the Ducks just defeated, 4-3, in Detroit on Monday after blowing away the New Jersey Devils, 5-1, only a night earlier in Newark.
Ducks coach Greg Cronin told SCNG ahead of his club’s two victories that he felt the tide of a stretch defined by 13 losses in 14 games could turn at any moment, and turn it did. The Ducks won in New Jersey with former Devil Adam Henrique achieving his first NHL hat trick. They then mounted another elusive commanding lead in Detroit and fended off an aggressive thirdperiod rally by the Red Wings.
“With a young team, you’ve just got to focus on the process,” Cronin said after the game. “We’re trying to build here for infrastructure and standards, and, usually, if you play that way repeatedly, you’ll get more wins than losses.”
The Ducks prevailed despite the continued absences of injured top contributors Mason Mctavish, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. They traveled with the club and Mctavish even took warmups, but none were able to compete in game action. All three players practiced Wednesday, indicating a questionable status for tonight.
Goalie John Gibson departed during the second intermission in New Jersey, and he has carried a non-roster designation since Sunday as he and his wife Alexa welcomed a new baby. Lukáš Dostál relieved Gibson against the
Devils in a no-decision and got the win — and nearly an empty-net goal, like he once scored in the minors — against the Wings. He could start both games (the Ducks will host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday) ahead of the Christmas break, though veteran Alex Stalock, recalled from San Diego on Wednesday, could
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Like the Ducks, the Flames have hit some rough patches under their own first-year head coach, Ryan Huska. After winning their season opener, they won just one of their next nine games. Prior to their modest active win streak, they had lost six of their previous seven games.
Gritty forward Nazem Kadri, who signed with Calgary last season after winning the Stanley Cup with Colorado, leads the offensively challenged Flames with 23 points in 32 games, while their outgoing agitator, Matthew Tkachuk, has emerged as one of the top wingers in the NHL with Florida.
Another indirect swap, that of Johnny Gaudreau (who signed with Columbus) and Jonathan Huberdeau (a high-scoring, finesse forward like Gaudreau who was acquired in the Tkachuk trade), has produced tepid results for all interested parties. Gaudreau has underwhelmed this season and Huberdeau, whose point total was reduced by more than half year-over-year after the trade, might be approaching a crisis-level decline with just 15 points and a minus-14 rating.