The Ducks broke through on the scoreboard and in the win column alike Sunday after four straight low-scoring losses, and sought to roll some confidence into Wednesday’s meeting with the Vegas Golden Knights.
That will be the penultimate game of a season-long homestand that started with three losses but now has a victory as part of what coach Greg Cronin called “template games” in three of the Ducks’ last four showings, exempting a less competitive effort against Vancouver.
Goalie John Gibson, whose season debut saw him halt 38 shots and save more than a goal and a half above expected in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, praised the Ducks’ defensive effort to keep play to the outside and the “direct” game they played when they had possession.
“We were talking about getting pucks and bodies to the net, trying to score some of those greasy, dirty-area goals. We were able to [against Columbus], and hopefully we can keep building off that,” Gibson said.
As he did after a regrettable display in which his miscues led to two goals against in his first appearance of the season, defenseman Jackson LaCombe bounced back from a late unforced error that led to a goal in the Ducks’ previous game, a loss to Minnesota. In his first game after that 4-1 loss to the Kings, he recorded an assist in a win over San Jose, and against Columbus he rallied with his first goal of the year. He was also strong in the offensive zone, keeping plays alive and generating precious time on attack, in addition to making some desperate defensive efforts.
“He was skating and he was moving the puck with conviction,” Cronin said. “When he’s moving his feet off the puck, we saw that in the exhibition season, he’s a difference-making defenseman.”
LaCombe and the Ducks’ checking forwards might need to turn in yet another solid effort Wednesday to compensate for some absences. Neither veteran defenseman Cam Fowler nor power forward Mason McTavish played Sunday, and both were missing from Tuesdays practice, as was industrious winger Robby Fabbri.
The Ducks have scored four or more goals just twice this season, accounting for two of their five wins. They’ve beaten only one team that made last season’s playoffs, the middling New York Islanders, and will now face not only a playoff qualifier from last season but a Stanley Cup champion from two years ago.
Yet the Golden Knights’ title defense was far from seamless and included losses in three of four meetings with the Ducks last season, all by multiple goals. Vegas won only the first matchup, the Ducks’ season opener, and also took the opening round this year with a 3-1 victory back on Oct. 13.
Vegas Jack Eichel and Mark Stone entered Tuesday’s slate of games in the top 10 league-wide in scoring, and each recorded an assist against the Ducks. Vegas has lost two games in a row to slip below the Kings in the Pacific Division standings, but still owns the best points percentage in the Pacific as well as the second-best goal differential in the Western Conference, trailing only league-pacing Winnipeg.
Vegas at Ducks
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Honda Center
TV: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)