After losing three of their last four games, the Ducks are looking to get back into the win column against the New York Islanders. The Ducks are coming off a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on March 7 while the Islanders are coming off a 4-2 win against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. The Islanders have won four of their last five games.
It’s another crucial game for the Ducks as their recent results have seen them slip out of the playoff race along with positive results for some of the teams they are chasing. Losses to the Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks and the Blues sting the most, in particular.
“(We’re an) urgent group,” Sam Colangelo said after the Ducks’ loss to the Blues. “I don’t think it was a lack of effort. I think it was a bit of a disconnected game for both teams and they were fortunate enough to capitalize on their bounces.”
“It starts with one game at a time,” Jackson LaCombe said. “We’re not going to put any pressure on ourselves to feel any different way than we do right now. We’ve gotta know how important these games are and go from there.”
Although goaltender John Gibson (lower-body) was a practice participant on Saturday, Ville Husso was recalled on Sunday, which means Gibson may not be ready for game action just yet. Lukáš Dostál is the expected starting goaltender for Anaheim.
Ducks Projected Lines
Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Troy Terry
Trevor Zegras – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn
Cutter Gauthier – Mason McTavish – Sam Colangelo
Jansen Harkins – Isac Lundeström – Brett Leason
Jackson LaCombe – Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov – Jacob Trouba
Olen Zellweger – Drew Helleson
Lukáš Dostál (projected)
Islanders Projected Lines
Kyle Palmieri – Bo Horvat – Anthony Duclair
Anders Lee – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Simon Holmström
Hudson Fasching – Casey Cizikas – Maxim Tsyplakov
Pierre Engvall – Kyle MacLean – Marc Gatcomb
Alexander Romanov – Tony DeAngelo
Adam Pelech – Noah Dobson
Adam Boqvist – Ryan Pulock
Marcus Högberg (projected)
