The Ducks were barely past halfway through their three-day layoff between games when the developments, most of them encouraging ones, had already piled high.
Alex Killorn, the two-time Stanley Cup winner they signed over the summer, reached the cusp of making his Ducks debut, which had been delayed by a broken finger. He said he thought it responded well to his initial action without a non-contact jersey and continued practicing this week, making him a game-time decision to slot into a left-wing spot Sunday, possibly on the third line.
Also back on the ice Saturday was winger Brock McGinn, whose lower-body injury has prevented him from playing this season. He seemed like a longshot for Sunday, but his return inched the Ducks ever closer to full health.
Greg Cronin, the Ducks’ effusive first-year coach who’s helped spark their about-face, was fined $25,000 for “unprofessional conduct directed toward the officials” by the NHL, the maximum allowable sum. He had expressed consternation at a disallowed goal decision that was upheld after a coach’s challenge in Pittsburgh on Monday.
There was also roster news ahead of the match. It appears winger Ryan Strome has recovered from his brief illness and that goalie John Gibson may be none the worse for wear after sustaining an upper-body injury in Pittsburgh. Neither player participated in Wednesday’s win over the Arizona Coyotes. Depth goalie Alex Stalock was sent back to the minors, where he’ll be joined by defenseman Tristan Luneau. Luneau, 19, can enjoy a conditioning stint in San Diego but cannot technically be assigned to the American Hockey League on a full-time basis as a North American prospect that still has a year of junior eligibility. In his stead, veteran defenseman Robert Hagg was recalled.
Oh, and the defending Stanley Cup champs are coming to town when the Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights clash Sunday at Honda Center.
That showdown will pit the team with the West’s longest active win streak, the Ducks at five games, against the team with its longest string of victories this season, the Golden Knights, who won their first seven contests.
For all the Ducks’ recent success, Cronin said he felt his team was more imposing, more effortful and all-around “sharper” in some of the early-season losses than it had been during much of its ongoing ascent.
“These last few games, we haven’t had that same pace, so, a young team needs practice reps,” said Cronin, before summarily taking advantage of a soft stretch of the schedule to give them just that.
Indeed the Ducks have made strides and implemented changes at a pace even more dizzying than this week’s team news cycle, with Cronin’s staff and a motivated group of players eager to catapult itself from the very bottom of the NHL last season to a more competitive position.
Last season, the Ducks were a sieve defensively, yet this year they sit just outside the top 10 league-wide in goals-against average while ranking in the middle of the penalty-kill pack. Early in this campaign, they had squandered territorial advantages and struggled on the power play. Of late, they’ve been more aggressive in front of the opposing net and more efficient on the power play, converting on five opportunities in their past three games after cashing in just once in seven prior matches.
“We give them the feedback and we create the structure as coaches, and then they’re responsible for putting the work and the intensity behind it,” Cronin said.
There may have been a bit of kismet at play when Cronin was united with kindred soul Frank Vatrano, who sat in a three-way tie for the NHL lead in goals entering Saturday’s slate of games. His nine tallies in 10 appearances put him on pace to blow past his career high of 24 goals way before midseason on the back of two hat tricks. In the Ducks’ most recent outing, an overtime victory against the Arizona Coyotes, it was Troy Terry, last year’s top goal-scorer for the Ducks who had gotten off to a slow start this season, making the fedoras fly from the stands.
“That whole line – Frankie, Strome and Mac T – are three of the top 30 scorers and I asked Troy [before the game], ‘Why aren’t you in that group?’” said Cronin, adding that he has been tweaking Terry’s style slightly to play a more direct game.
There is little in the way of indirectness when it comes to Vegas, as they play a heavy, straight-ahead style. The Golden Knights beat the Ducks 4-1 in the Ducks’ season opener, a game Cronin has singled out as the team’s least satisfying loss. How edifying it was remained to be seen Saturday, when Vegas was visiting the Colorado Avalanche in the front part of a back-to-back set.
The Golden Knights had their own hat-trick hero, Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault, in a win over Winnipeg on Thursday. Shea Theodore, their top-scoring defenseman, scored the shootout winner against Montreal a game earlier. Former Ducks center William Karlsson leads Vegas in scoring with 13 points.
VEGAS AT DUCKS
When: Sunday, 5 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
How to watch: Bally Sports SoCal
