Canucks look to pick up steam at expense of Ducks

The Vancouver Canucks will look to maintain their recent dominance over the Ducks when the Pacific Division clubs square off Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif.

The Canucks have won eight straight games against the Ducks, dating to the start of the 2022-23 season. Vancouver most recently skated to a 5-1 win in Anaheim on Nov. 5.

Both teams have been in a funk of late, however.

The Ducks will try to avoid their third straight loss, while the Canucks have struggled during their current five-game road trip. They lost the first two contests before picking up a 3-2 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

Anaheim squandered a two-goal lead in the third period of a 3-2 setback to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

"They came out like gangbusters, and we were very fortunate that we were ahead in the first," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. "They had multiple grade-A chances, and Lukas (Dostal) was awesome."

Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson each scored a goal, and Dostal finished with 34 saves for Anaheim.

"Unfortunately, there were mistakes that cost us," Ducks captain Radko Gudas said.

"I thought we held our ground for most of the night. Obviously it wasn't the best first period; then in the second, we were a lot better. But unfortunately in the third, we did some mistakes that ended up costing us."

Vancouver received some welcome news before Wednesday's game with the return of its captain and leading scorer Quinn Hughes, who missed six games with an undisclosed injury.

Hughes set up the winning goal by Conor Garland while seeing 21:38 of ice time.

"It was huge," Garland said of having Hughes back in the lineup. "He is one of the top three players in the world. When stuff goes awry, you can lean on him to make plays, and he did that in overtime."

Canucks coach Rick Tocchet began his Wednesday on an optimistic note, saying that having Hughes back at practice gives his team a major boost.

"The practice level went up a notch," Tocchet said. "He gets pucks to the net. When he does his dance, it makes people get to the net. That is something we have lacked since he was out."

Garland scored his second goal of the game at 4:26 of overtime with a wrist shot from the left circle. He converted off the rush after the Canucks had killed a penalty and both teams still were skating 4-on-4.

"I decided to shoot this one," he said. "It is hard to go 4-on-4, so it was a good play by the group out there.

"We hung in there, battled until the end and were rewarded."

The Ducks will miss forward Trevor Zegras, who received a three-game suspension by the league on Monday for interference against Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen on Sunday.

Zegras is eligible to return for Anaheim on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

--Field Level Media