ANAHEIM –– The Ducks are seeking to get back on track as a train from Washington is bearing down on them.
Following Wednesday’s punting by the Utah Mammoth that saw them cede a touchdown, the Ducks will be back at it Friday when they’ll welcome the Washington Capitals.
While the Caps have won six consecutive games and nine of their past 10, the Ducks have taken two matches in a row only once since their seven-game win streak ended nearly a month ago.
“We’re trying to recapture a feeling where we can get something consecutively going here,” said coach Joel Quenneville, adding that Washington was “playing well” with their mix of size and skill.
On their current road trip, the Caps are 3-0-0 thanks to a 14-3 aggregate score. The NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer, 40-year-old Alex Ovechkin, has six points on the trip and 10 in his past four away games, including a hat trick at Montreal.
Most recently, they played back-to-back games, patiently waiting out the Kings in a de facto one-goal game and then blowing the Sharks out of the water less than 24 hours later.
Their 7-1 trouncing of San Jose vaulted them above the Ducks for the second-most goals per game in the NHL, and they have allowed fewer goals a night than every club but Colorado.
“They can defend and they can score. That’s a pretty good combination,” said Bruce Boudreau, who coached both the Capitals and Ducks previously.
“They showed that, I mean, how many ways do you want to play this [game]?” Boudreau said before the Caps smoked San Jose. “They beat them at, supposedly, L.A.’s game, which is defense.”
Boudreau also mentioned players like Tom Wilson, John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun as potential Capitals to represent the countries at the Olympics. For the Ducks, Leo Carlsson, Chris Kreider, Lukàš Dostál, Mikael Granlund, Radko Gudas and Troy Terry were all either already headed to Milan or stating their case to do so.
The Ducks are 2-6-2 in their past 10 meetings with Washington, and the teams will square off again Jan. 5 in D.C.
Washington at Ducks
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Honda Center
TV: Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)