The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' matchup against the Minnesota Wild.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Tonight, the Ducks will face off against a familiar foe in the Minnesota Wild. These two teams played against one another just under a week ago in Minnesota, with the Wild shutting out the Ducks in a 2-0 victory.
That defeat was the fourth consecutive for Anaheim, with their current spell extending to seven in a row. It's the longest losing streak for the Ducks this season since a span of nine consecutive losses at the end of November.
Head coach Greg Cronin felt that they could have won four or five of those games during their skid in November. This most recent of losses has fallen heavily on the shoulders of a penalty kill struggling to do just that––kill penalties. 14 power-play goals against (including three on Sunday against St. Louis) on 27 opportunities is more rancid than the 1991 punk rock band.
Cronin also pointed to injuries to key players like Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish as to why the Ducks have struggled recently. Defenseman Radko Gudas suffered an injury in last week's game against Minnesota and hasn't played since, leaving Cam Fowler as the lone veteran on the blue line now.
"Leo's a difference maker. (McTavish is) a difference maker. Gudas in his own way is a difference maker and then we've got complementary players like (Max) Jones who can skate and play with pace and plays with an edge to his game. When you miss those pieces and you can't put similar pieces back in in a team that's losing, it's not a good recipe."
Fast Facts:
-The Ducks are 1-1-0 this season against the Wild, with just seven goals coming in those two games.
-Leo Carlsson returned on Sunday against the Blues after missing nine games with a concussion. He registered an assist in 19:05 in his first game back.
-The Ducks were officially eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday after losing to the Blues.
Ducks Projected Lines
Alex Killorn - Leo Carlsson - Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano - Mason McTavish - Ryan Strome
Max Jones - Isac Lundeström - Jakob Silfverberg
Ross Johnston - Bo Groulx - Leason
Cam Fowler - Olen Zellweger
Pavel Mintyukov - Jackson LaCombe
Urho Vaakanainen - Gustav Lindström
John Gibson
Wild Projected Lines
Kirill Kaprizov - Ryan Hartman - Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson - Marco Rossi - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno - Marat Khusnutdinov - Mason Shaw
Adam Beckman - Jake Lucchini - Frédérick Gaudreau
Jacob Middleton - Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin - Zach Bogosian
Declan Chisholm - Jon Merrill
Filip Gustavsson