Following a nine-game losing streak that began before the Christmas break, the Anaheim Ducks are suddenly alive and well and intent on returning to their winning ways from early in the season.
After consecutive victories against the rival Los Angeles Kings, the Ducks are on a three-game winning streak following their recent skid and are set to host the New York Rangers on Monday.
Anaheim will be without young star Leo Carlsson (leg) for the time being, but teenager Beckett Sennecke has continued to show his development with nine points (four goals, five assists) over the past nine games. The Ducks are also without Frank Vatrano and Troy Terry because of injuries.
In Friday’s 3-2 victory over the Kings, Sennecke had an assist on both regulation goals and scored in the shootout.
Sennecke helped Anaheim slip past Los Angeles 2-1 on Saturday when he stole the puck from the Kings’ Kevin Fiala, who was on a breakaway, in overtime, then sent a no-look pass up the ice to start Mikael Granlund on his own breakaway for the game-winning goal.
“We’re not giving up anything easy,” said Granlund, who scored the game-winner with just under a minute remaining in OT. “Nothing self-inflicted. Earlier, we were giving up odd-man rushes after the first period and were chasing the game. We’re not doing that right now. We’re making good decisions and that’s what you have to do in this league if you want to win.”
Mason McTavish scored the lone regulation-time goal for Anaheim after he delivered the decisive score in Friday’s shootout. Ville Husso made 17 saves.
“A lot of positives,” Anaheim head coach Joel Quenneville said. “Four-line rotation, everybody is giving us something. It was a great win and a great stretch as well.”
The Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) with a 6-3 road win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Mika Zibanejad scored a hat trick in a clear response to general manager Chris Drury’s promise on Friday that roster changes are coming.
In his 800th career NHL game, Artemi Panarin added two goals to give head coach Mike Sullivan his 500th career NHL victory.
“The last couple of days have been pretty emotional for the whole group and to respond with an effort like they did, for me, is evidence that these guys are quality people and they care a lot about each other and about the Rangers,” Sullivan said.
Panarin extended his points streak to nine games, second-longest in the NHL heading into Sunday’s play.
Zibanejad is currently on an eight-game point streak and set the Rangers’ record with 117 power-play goals. His second hat trick of the season is his ninth career hat trick, tying Bill Cook for the most in franchise history.
“Huge credit to the guys,” Zibanejad said of the six-goal output following Drury’s comments. “It’s not an easy situation.”
Others made a case for themselves, like New York’s Brennan Othmann, who delivered his first career goal in his 34th game, while Spencer Martin made 25 saves in his first start of the season.
–Field Level Media
