The Anaheim Ducks will face the San Jose Sharks in a key Pacific Division game on Apr. 1, with puck drop scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific Time and national coverage on TNT.
The matchup comes as both teams look to strengthen their playoff positions. Anaheim currently holds a two-point lead over Edmonton for first place in the division, while San Jose has recently broken a six-game losing streak with back-to-back wins.
Anaheim is coming off an overtime loss to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs scored with five seconds left in extra time to secure a 5-4 victory. John Carlson, who scored his first goal as a Duck during that game, said, “We should have had two points in the game and been moving on to [Tuesday]. We did a good job for a lot of the game in terms of how we played and in terms of dealing with the emotions, but we’ve got to be more mature and come out on top of these games.”
Tonight’s contest features some of the league’s youngest stars. The Ducks’ top three scorers average just 21 years old, while San Jose’s top three are even younger at an average age of 20. Beckett Sennecke, age 20 and one of Anaheim’s leading scorers, is tied for most goals among rookies this season (22). Head coach Joel Quenneville said about Sennecke: “I think putting it all together here down the stretch, the games are meaningful, the shifts are valuable. I think adding that on a regular basis from here on out throughout the whole year for him is going to be a work in progress, but the upside is we want to make sure there’s balance. Let him play and let’s play a team game.”
San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini leads his team offensively with 101 points this season (38 goals and 63 assists).
Anaheim will be without its leading goal scorer Cutter Gauthier due to an upper-body injury; Radko Gudas will also miss tonight’s game according to Quenneville.
Nathan Gaucher will make his debut for Anaheim at SAP Center after being selected by Anaheim as their first-round pick in 2022. “I worked hard for this and it’s going to be awesome,” Gaucher said about his debut. “I’ll keep my game simple and the first one is always something you remember so I’m excited. Playing in a real regular season game and meaningful game down the stretch here for the Ducks just ups the value so much. It’s going to be an exciting game, intense, and I’m going to try and help this team win the best I can.”
This marks their third meeting out of four scheduled regular-season matchups between these teams.
