The way things have gone for the Ducks this season, it’s probably a bit premature to identify any game as a turning point.
But could their 5-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 19 have served as a restart?
The Ducks have had a knack of engineering third-period comebacks this season, leading the league with four multi-goal rallies. But rallying from a 3-0 deficit and scoring five straight goals on the road against a fellow minnow, the Blue Jackets, lit a spark with the Ducks.
They won three of their next four games, including three straight heading into the NHL All-Star break, their longest winning streak of the season.
“It’s a great reminder, I guess is a better way to put it, that you’re never out of a game in this league,” said Ducks coach Dallas Eakins before the break. “With Columbus, and this is not to be disrespectful to Columbus, because we’re in the same boat as them, they’re a team that’s kind of in our same weight class. For them to hang on to a lead is going to be hard because they could be a little fragile.
“It wasn’t the first period we wanted in that game. But you’ve just got to turn your mindset to very simple goals in the game. After the first period it was: We need to get the next goal. And we can absolutely not take a penalty to let it get to four. All it takes is that one goal, or that next one, to put some doubt in the other team.”
Even when the Ducks lost in that four-game span right after the Blue Jackets win, they rallied twice to tie the Sabres before giving up three goals in the third period, falling 6-3 at Buffalo on Jan. 21.
“We want to pride ourselves on having a never-quit attitude,” forward Sam Carrick said. “Once you do it, you realize it can be done. It gives you a lot of confidence. If you keep trying and trying and it doesn’t work out, it can wear on you a little bit. When you do come back in a game — especially a three-goal deficit — it gives you that confidence that there’s no lead too big we can come back from.”
TRIBUTE TIME
The Dallas Stars had to put the tribute video to John Klingberg on hold the last time the Ducks were in town on Dec. 1 because the injured defenseman was not on the trip. It would have been his first time playing his former team since signing with the Ducks as an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
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Klingberg, who played his entire NHL career with the Stars before joining the Ducks, was in the lineup when the Stars were in Anaheim on Jan. 4, losing 2-0 to the Ducks.
The first game for the Ducks out of the All-Star break will be on Monday at Dallas, a memorable occasion for Klingberg, who was a popular figure in Dallas during his Stars’ tenure.
ALSO
Ducks goaltending prospect Lukas Dostal was to represent the San Diego Gulls at the AHL All-Star Classic in Laval, Quebec. The skills competition was held on Sunday, and the game on Monday (4 p.m. PT).
With the Gulls, Dostal is 10-21-0 with three shutouts and 3.04 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He recorded back-to-back shutouts on the road last month, against Henderson on Jan. 1. and Milwaukee on Jan. 6.