In their final home game of the season, the Ducks will roll out the orange carpet for the Colorado Avalanche, albeit a thinned version thereof, on Sunday evening.
The Avs are locked into their playoff position, set to open the first round in Dallas against the Stars. Consequently, they have taken a cautious bent with their lineup. Nathan MacKinnon eschewed any designs on the Art Ross Trophy or other individual honors and shut it down for the final three games of the season. Perennial Norris Trophy candidate Cale Makar will also untie his skates and put his feet up, with both players having grinded through not only the NHL season but the 4 Nations Face-Off. They won’t be the only Avs resting up or nursing injuries either.
There was no respite for the Ducks between their rousing rally to defeat the Calgary Flames on Wednesday and their 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Kings on Thursday. Their penalty kill, which had one of the better stretches of its inconsistent campaign amid some personnel changes and tactical shifts, got lit up for three goals. The Kings spaced them out twice and boxed them in once during their third straight game facing six shorthanded situations. Meanwhile, their power play continued to sputter and wheeze, going 0 for 4 as part of a 2-for-34 funk.
“We can blame it on a back-to-back, or our legs being tired, but there’s no excuse for that. Hopefully we can get rebooted up and have a good game against Colorado,” said rookie Cutter Gauthier, who has five goals in his past three games, adding that “we’ve got to dial it in on the PK.”
Gauthier is in his first full NHL season. Another newcomer to the Ducks, Jacob Trouba, captained the New York Rangers and made deep playoff runs with the Rangers and Winnipeg Jets. While the Ducks were among the most-improved teams in the NHL – their total is 21 points higher than it was last season through the same 79 games – Trouba eschewed any discussion of thresholds crossed and corners turned.
“It’s a pretty far-back corner if that’s the corner we’re trying to turn. I think there’s a lot more to be had and a lot more than we can strive for,” Trouba said.
“Special teams are a big part, I think the battle level, how we (compete) and work, that’s something we can continue to get better at,” he added. “It has gotten better, but there’s still another level we’ve got to get to.”
Sunday’s clash will be the last game of 2024-25 for Colorado and Game No. 80 for the Ducks, who will close the year with back-to-back games on the road. The NCAA season also concluded with Saturday’s national championship game between Western Michigan and Boston University.
That meant a number of collegiate prospects signing entry-level contracts, including Ducks defenseman Ian Moore. He finished his career at Harvard on March 20 and signed a tryout deal with the Ducks’ top minor-league affiliate.
The 23-year-old was a third-round pick (67th overall) of the Ducks in 2020 and has five points in nine American Hockey League games. He combines fluid mobility with formidable size, at 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds, to create a shutdown defender’s profile.
Colorado at Ducks
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Honda Center
TV: ESPN
