The Anaheim Ducks were one of the worst teams in the NHL last season, finishing with 59 points and out of the postseason. Things are going better for Anaheim early this season — much better, compared to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Ducks have won two out of three to begin this campaign, including Wednesday night’s overtime win over Utah, and will try to get a third win against a struggling Colorado team in Denver on Friday night.
Anaheim’s win was its ninth straight in home openers, but for the past six years that has not been a sign of success for the rest of the season. The Ducks have not been to the postseason since 2018 and have a young squad itching to get there.
It helps to win close games, like Anaheim did Wednesday night. The Ducks trailed by a goal late before Pavel Mintyukov scored his second goal of the night to send it to overtime, where Leo Carlsson won it 54 seconds into the extra period.
“We played hard and obviously got rewarded there at the end tying it up. And it was the Leo Carlsson show in overtime,” Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras said. “He’s just a special player when he gets going and a lot of fun to watch.”
Anaheim is trying to turn around its recent history against the Avalanche. Colorado is 13-2-2 against the Ducks since the start of the 2020-21 season and 11-1-1 in the last 13 meetings. The Avalanche have been one of the league’s elite teams in that span, but four games into this season they don’t look like a title contender.
Colorado has dropped all four games in regulation, the last two at home, and has been outscored 25-13, including four empty-net goals. The Avalanche have held a lead for less than five minutes all season and have not had a lead after any of the 12 periods it has played.
They were more competitive in a 5-3 loss to Boston on Wednesday night but still came away winless. Alexandar Georgiev has been in net for every game and was pulled in the first two before sticking around in the last two losses.
“It’s a really tough situation. Just doing the best we can every day, and I feel if everybody does that then we’ve got a good chance every night,” Georgiev said. “I believe in the team. We are such a good team who can score a lot. We can play great defense. Just have to learn from it but not get discouraged and get to the next one with sharp brains.”
Georgiev will soon have competition as the No. 1 goaltender. Kaapo Kahkonen, who was claimed off waivers last week, has almost cleared customs and will join the team soon, coach Jared Bednar said.
Colorado won’t have top-pair defenseman Devon Toews for a third straight game and first-line forward Jonathan Drouin will miss his fourth in a row. Miles Wood, who left Wednesday’s game after a hit, was not severely injured and could play Saturday night, Bednar said.
–Field Level Media
