The Ducks have witnessed plenty in the last year, but one thing they haven't seen is the Arizona Coyotes in their home building.
The longtime Pacific Division rival -- still a divisional foe in the new-fangled Honda West -- hasn't been to Honda Center in more than 14 months, since a 4-2 Anaheim win on January 29, 2020. The Ducks' recent bouts with the Yotes in Arizona have not been as fruitful, not since a 1-0 John Gibson shutout in their first battle this season. Since then, Anaheim has suffered defeats on Jan. 28 (3-2), Feb. 22 (4-3) and Feb. 24 (4-3 in OT).
The Ducks come into this one desperately needing a win, two days after an 8-4 defeat in Colorado in which Anaheim jumped out to a 4-2 first period lead and gave up six unanswered.
That defensive letdown further emphasized the absences of two of Anaheim's top defensemen -- Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm, who have both missed extended periods with injuries. Manson could return soon from a lower body injury while Lindholm looks to miss a few more weeks with a fractured wrist. In the eight games he's missed so far, the Ducks are he Ducks are 2-6-1 while being outscored 42-25. Their 8-16-6 record in this compacted 56-game season leaves them little time to try and make a run for the top four in the Honda West.
"When you've had two of your top four defensemen in a total of three games together this year, that's very, very difficult to overcome in this league," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "I don't care how good your team is or if you're a championship team or a team in transition. That is just reality. We won't use that as an excuse.
But, Eakins says, the rest of the team has to better pick up the slack. "We've got to, to a man, be better," he said. "We'll continue on with our 'D' back there, trying to get them better, trying to get better support from our forwards."
Eakins referenced the significant time Cam Fowler missed with an injury last season and pointed out, "Cam, Lindholm and Fowler, over the last 70 or 80 games, I think the three of them have been in the lineup half the time. We've go to get these guys healthy in the lineup so that when we do play these teams under pressure, we've got the appropriate response."
As far as Manson's return, Eakins said this morning, "He was red-faced and very tired when I went out to check on him on the ice earlier today. When you start to see that, I start hitting my stop watch and asking questions on how soon he'll be back. So he's trending in the right direction."
Gibson missed Tuesday night's loss with a lower body injury and remains day to day. "I'm not personally overly concerned about it," said Eakins, who indicated that Ryan Miller will again get the start tonight.
The Ducks are in the midst of playing 12 games in 22 days stretching from Feb. 27 through Saturday, which will be the rematch with Arizona at Honda Center.
The Yotes are 12-13-4, firmly in sixth place in the Honda West and in desperation mode themselves. They've lost four in a row, including three straight three-goal defeats in Minnesota.
March 19, 2021 at 12:16AM
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