With a road trip to forget behind them, the Ducks returned home for the final matchup of the season with the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Though they’ve beaten Edmonton by multiple goals in two of three prior meetings, they lost 4-1 in Calgary on Thursday and 6-2 in Vancouver on Saturday. They allowed the fastest five goals in Canucks franchise history, which dates back to 1970, in that matinee massacre.
The Ducks had to switch goalies in Calgary after John Gibson sustained an injury and Lukáš Dostál, who mopped up that loss, bore the brunt of the Ducks’ collapse after going up a goal and generating multiple odd-man rushes early.
“That wasn’t Lukáš’ fault. Two [goals] came off our sticks, they’re seeing-eye shots through traffic, and he’s been our best player all year,” Coach Greg Cronin told reporters. “He didn’t deserve that. It wasn’t on him, so I told them to dig in and support the goalie [during a timeout].”
That opening goal belonged to Troy Terry, who became the fifth player in the Ducks franchise history to record four straight campaigns with 20 or more goals by tallying for the first time in seven games. He joined Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson and Frank Vatrano in the 20-goal club in 2024-25. Terry also met challenges off the ice this year, as he and wife Dani’s second child was born prematurely.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster of a year, in a lot of ways for me. I’m proud of a lot of the things that I’ve done this year. It was a little challenging to get that last one,” Terry told Victory+.
Terry described the effort overall on Sunday as giving the appearance that the Ducks were not “ready to play.” They’ll need to be prepared for the Oilers, albeit a thinned iteration thereof.
Edmonton was still without league MVPs Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, as well as top defenseman Mattias Ekholm and No. 1 goalie Stuart Skinner, among others, in a 3-0 loss to the Kings on Saturday.
For the Ducks, who were missing not only Gibson but also veteran defenseman Jacob Trouba on Saturday, Trevor Zegras’ academic goal in Vancouver pushed his surge to eight points in as many games. For Edmonton, former King Viktor Arvidsson has five goals in 10 games, while Zach Hyman’s five-goals-in-five-games stretch has given way to four matches without so much as a point
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