After a day off on Sunday, the Ducks were back on the ice for practice on Monday morning.
After swapping lines with Troy Terry midway through Saturday’s game in San Jose, Alex Killorn remained on the top line alongside Chris Kreider and Leo Carlsson. Terry skated with Mikael Granlund and Frank Vatrano on the third line.
On paper, it may seem weird to bump your $7 million winger down to the third line, but this is more about Killorn’s glove-like fit with Carlsson than Terry’s performances through the first two games of the season.
Chris Kreider - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Cutter Gauthier - Mason McTavish - Beckett Sennecke
Frank Vatrano - Mikael Granlund - Troy Terry
Ross Johnston - Ryan Poehling - Nikita Nesterenko/Sam Colangelo
Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Drew Helleson
“Kreids and I kind of do some similar things in the offensive zone,” Killorn said. “He's probably more of an effort guy than me, but I like to be there, too. We’ve talked with Leo, we want to take care of the puck down low. We want him to feel free up top, to kind of hang on to the puck and make plays.
“For me, my whole thing with is Leo is just finding ways to get him the puck with speed through the neutral zone. Being a lefty on my right side, I'm coming backwards sometimes (in the offensive zone), and that helps me get him the puck.”
Carlsson and Killorn were almost joined at the hip last season, with Killorn being the teammate that Carlsson had the most ice time with by a wide margin. In this new setup, both Carlsson and Terry can dominate possession instead of taking away puck touches from one another.
Power play units remained the same at Monday’s practice, though there was the added wrinkle of the second unit forming more of a diamond than the Connor McDavid-esque setup that Jay Woodcroft had been utilizing early on.
In the new formation, Cutter Gauthier was positioned at the netfront, with Beckett Sennecke occupying the bumper. Olen Zellweger manned the point while Killorn and McTavish were set up on the left and right flanks, respectively. Sennecke scored on the power play goal on Saturday.
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