DALLAS – The Ducks are embarking on a two-game road trip and looking to extend their winning streak to five games. They are currently tied for first in the Pacific Division with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Anaheim has been powered by the dynamic duo of Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier, who have 18 and 16 points. Both of them are riding seven-game point streaks, the first pair of teammates to record simultaneous point streaks of at least seven both at the age 21 or younger since Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in 2016-17.
Carlsson received a five-minute major and a game misconduct on Tuesday for a hit on the Florida Panthers' Evan Rodrigues during Tuesday’s game, but did not receive any supplementary discipline from the Department of Player Safety.
“It happened pretty fast,” Carlsson said. “I was trying to get the puck from Troy (Terry), and I didn’t have anywhere to go. And (Rodrigues) is shorter than me, so I just go straight into him. It's just unfortunate that he was so low and I'm taller, so just went straight into his head.”
The Dallas Stars are currently fifth in the league in power play percentage (31.1), powered by the likes of Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. Johnston's four power play goals are tied for fourth in the NHL. The Ducks are middle of the pack in penalty kill percentage (79.5), but have killed 10 of their last 12 penalties.
“They’re looking to get their power play to get their game offensively, and they’re good at it,” head coach Joel Quenneville said. “The skill level’s high-end. Patience, play recognition, options. I think that (assistant coach Ryan McGill) does a nice job getting the PK ready and on our opponents and what they’re intending to do. It’ll be a good test for us as well, but I think there’s some improvement on our end of it killing-wise. Denying entries, possession, recognizing pressure points. They’re getting better.”
“You’re just trying to be in position so they can't set up exactly the way they want it,” Carlsson said. “Troy and I like to go on offense (on the PK) too, they have to have to know that. So that gives us a little bit of advantage to it.”
“They’re pretty similar (to the Panthers),” Olen Zellweger said. “Good pace, good forecheck. And I think Dallas is pretty good at maintaining possession of the offensive zone. Lots of good forwards, just a good team overall. Different challenges, but similar. We’re gonna have to play really sharp and execute well.”
Through 12 games, the Ducks lead the league in goals per game with 3.92. They are also top-5 in the league in shots per game with 31.4. Gauthier is currently tied for first in the league with 10 goals and is second in the league in shots with 58.
“I feel like we're playing exactly the way we want,” Carlsson said. “Sure, sometimes we make unnecessary dangles and stuff on the blue line, but I feel like we play hockey. We know when to put it deep and not. A lot of shots is the key, too.”
“We always talked last year about increasing our shots, but there’s not really a blueprint to do it,” Zellweger said. “I feel like this year, we're skating well, maybe playing more free. Creating more opportunities to shoot and get scoring chances. I don't think there's one specific thing, it’s just a bunch of different things you’re adding to create more rushes and more o-zone time.”
Roope Hintz (undisclosed) and Radek Faksa (illness) will both be game-time decisions for the Stars, who rolled out a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen for their game on Tuesday.
Ducks Projected Lines
Chris Kreider – Leo Carlsson – Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier – Mason McTavish – Beckett Sennecke
Nikita Nesterenko – Ryan Poehling – Alex Killorn
Ross Johnston – Jansen Harkins – Frank Vatrano
Jackson LaCombe – Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger – Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov – Ian Moore
Lukáš Dostál (projected)
Stars Projected Lines
Jason Robertson – Wyatt Johnston – Mikko Rantanen
Tyler Seguin – Roope Hintz – Mavrik Bourque
Oskar Bäck – Sam Steel – Colin Blackwell
Adam Erne – Radek Faksa – Nathan Bastian
Esa Lindell – Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley – Ilya Lyubushkin
Lian Bischel – Alex Petrovic
Jake Oettinger (confirmed)
