Game #68: Ducks vs. Stars Gameday Preview
Feb 4, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Trevor Zegras (11) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the third period of a hockey game against the Dallas Stars at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-Imagn ImagesDALLAS - The Ducks are looking to put Sunday's 7-2 thrashing at the hand of the St. Louis Blues behind them. In their second game of a three-game road trip, they'll face the Dallas Stars in the third edition of the Victory+ Bowl.
Anaheim is 2-0-0 this season against the Stars, who lost 3-2 in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The Stars have won just one of their last four games since having their four-game winning streak snapped on Mar. 8 against the Edmonton Oilers.
"We've got to play the same way we did (against them) back at home," Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said. "I thought our gaps offensively were terrific, we were able to get pucks back on the forecheck. I think we were outshooting them for the majority of the game. We just had a really connected vertical game. I think that created a lot of reliability and predictability to how we played."
"We've got to put (the St. Louis game) behind us," Trevor Zegras said. "(We) got punched in the mouth pretty early. It was an emotional night with (Brayden) Schenn being honored for 1,000 games played––we wish him the best and congratulations, it's a pretty remarkable accomplishment. Coming into tonight's game, kind of forget about it. I think we've played two pretty good games versus these guys this year, so try and pick up off that and get skating tonight."
"When we get in there and we create a tight-gap checking game, we're able to get on top of people and use our sticks and our bodies to try and create turnovers. Good teams like Dallas and St. Louis, they're really good off the rush. They get their D up, so we were able to sort that out at home as well. Dallas has some quality, great, grade-A chances off the rush and I thought we did a good job for the most part. I think that'll be a big challenge tonight."
Ducks Projected Lines
Trevor Zegras - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier - Mason McTavish - Nikita Nesterenko
Jansen Harkins - Isac Lundeström - Brett Leason
Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Drew Helleson
Lukáš Dostál (projected)
Stars Projected Lines
Jason Robertson - Roope Hintz - Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment - Matt Duchene - Mikael Granlund
Jamie Benn - Wyatt Johnston - Mavrik Bourque
Oskar Bäck - Sam Steel - Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley - Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell - Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel - Matt Dumba
Jake Oettinger (confirmed)