Carolina @ Anaheim preview
Honda Center
Last Meeting ( Feb 25, 2023 ) Anaheim 3, Carolina 2
The Anaheim Ducks will bring a 14-game regular-season losing streak into their home opener on Sunday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Anaheim dropped a 4-1 decision to the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in their season opener on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The Ducks, who ended the 2022-23 season with a 13-game losing streak, last won a game on March 17, a 7-4 decision over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With an opening night roster that includes seven players 22 years old or younger, Greg Cronin liked a lot of what he saw in his NHL head coaching debut despite the loss. Anaheim finished with a league-worst 58 points last season, 53 fewer than the Western Conference winning Golden Knights.
"That was a game of inches for me," Cronin said. "They're a veteran team that knows how to win. They make the right plays and they execute. I'm proud of the way the guys played. They played hard. We've got to package that up and do it again tomorrow."
"We've got to keep building on this," forward Ryan Strome added. "Our growth is going to be measured over the course of the year and how we take a step as a team. I thought this was a good first step. The result is a little disappointing but the work was there and that's the most important thing to build on."
The Ducks now must face defending Metro Division winner Carolina, a 6-5 shootout winner at Los Angeles on Saturday night, in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams.
Anaheim players and alumni will enter the Honda Center on a special plum carpet during ceremonies to celebrate the team's 30th anniversary.
"We're excited," said Strome, who clanged a shot off the post in the first period. "I think our fan base is excited for a new year. We want to have a great game in front of them. I know we'll bring a good effort and we will be competing for 60 minutes and hopefully get a win."
Carolina, which had short-handed goals by Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, squandered a 5-2 second-period lead against the Kings. Los Angeles tied it, 5-5, with 1:22 left after pulling goalie Pheonix Copley for an extra attacker on captain Anze Kopitar's second goal of the game.
But the Hurricanes still managed to get the extra point on Jordan Martinook's goal in the ninth round of the shootout.
Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour wasn't in a celebrating mood after watching his team twice squander three-goal leads.
"Trash it and move on," Brind'Amour said before boarding the bus for Orange County. "I don't know if we've played maybe a worse game ever. I give them credit. They outplayed us from start to finish. We scored on every chance we had, basically."
The Hurricanes finished with just 19 shots on goal. The two teams combined for 26 penalty minutes and 11 power plays, including seven by the Kings, who scored twice with the extra man. But Los Angeles also gave up two short-handed scores, including Aho's franchise-record 17th.
"The game is just so hard when you're in the box the whole game," Brind'Amour said. "It just has no flow. It's a disgusting game really. So we're going to just trash it and move on. Thankfully we get to play tomorrow.
"We got away with one tonight. We're about getting points. That's this league. Two points are going to count the same. We'd much rather win but that wasn't good."
--Field Level Media