The Anaheim Ducks, holding a 15-8-1 record, begin a two-game road trip with a matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks (10-9-5) in Chicago. The game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on Victory+ and KCOP-13.
Anaheim comes into this contest following a close 5-4 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Black Friday. In that game, the Ducks overcame three separate deficits and tied the score within the final two minutes of regulation play.
Leo Carlsson played a key role by scoring the tying goal and assisting on goals from Chris Kreider and Olen Zellweger. After overtime ended without any goals, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish scored in the shootout, with McTavish securing the win for Anaheim. Ville Husso made 23 saves in his first NHL start of the season after being recalled from San Diego.
This win allowed Anaheim to extend its lead over Los Angeles at the top of the Pacific Division by two points.
“We had some success with the goalie out and some fortunate breaks in that time of the game,” head coach Joel Quenneville said. “(I) know we shouldn’t rely on that, but it was obviously a huge win for us.”
The Ducks have focused on improving their starts but demonstrated resilience during their recent win. Their nine comeback victories are second only to Philadelphia’s ten this season.
“On the bench, we never feel like we’re out of the game,” Quenneville added. “It’s almost like we get more angry when we get down by one or two. We did a lot of good things to sustain some pucks, (get some) kills, clears, and some timely goals around the net.”
Chris Kreider commented on Anaheim’s ability to recover during games: “Great comeback,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of interesting games, spotting teams leads. (It was a) good job at coming back and fighting back. It’s probably not a lot of fun for the coaches, but probably fun for the fans.”
Today marks the second meeting between Anaheim and Chicago this regular season; Chicago won their previous encounter 2-1 in overtime in October. However, Chicago enters this game on a five-game losing streak after most recently falling to Nashville.
Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill addressed his team’s struggles: “I thought that’s what hurt us (Friday), when we don’t get the pucks out clean, when we don’t go tape-to-tape, we lack that kind of poise (and) we end up bogging ourselves down.”
Connor Bedard leads Chicago with 33 points so far this season while Tyler Bertuzzi is second with 20 points.
