The Anaheim Ducks have been on a roll recently, taking down some of the NHL’s top teams, and they’ll have another shot at a win on Sunday when the Tampa Bay Lightning wrap up their three-game road trip in California.
During their recent three-game winning streak, the Ducks have been powered by right winger Troy Terry. In his fourth full NHL season in 2021-22, Terry had a breakout year, scoring 37 goals and adding 30 assists, totaling 67 points in 75 games. He has continued to perform well, currently leading the team with 13 goals, 18 assists, and 31 points.
Terry plays on the top line alongside left winger Frank Vatrano and center Ryan Strome. Over the last five games, Terry has contributed four goals and two assists, including the overtime winner against Winnipeg on Thursday. This helped the Ducks extend their winning streak to three games, beating the Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, and Jets.
The Ducks have shown resilience this season, coming back to win seven games in the third period and overcoming multi-goal deficits four times, ranking second in the league.
“The difference this year, when we go down a goal there with two minutes left, we have a little bit more swagger and confidence that we’re OK and can still tie this game up,” Terry said. “No matter where the game is at, we have confidence in the group that we can pull it off.”
However, their streak ended on Friday when the Ducks erased a two-goal deficit against Edmonton only to lose 3-2 after Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner with 95 seconds remaining.
Vatrano has nine goals and 11 assists this season, while Strome has seven goals and 14 assists.
As for the Lightning, they’ve won five straight games against the Ducks, including eight of the last nine, but enter Sunday’s game on a three-game losing streak. Sunday’s match will be the second of back-to-back games for the Lightning, who lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. They are 2-2-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.
Victor Hedman, who took a puck to the ear on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, scored the Lightning’s only goal in the loss to the Kings. Hedman has five goals and 24 assists so far this season.
“It’s frustrating, I felt like we were tilting the ice,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “It’s tough to think of a moral victory at this point in the season.”
Top goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been struggling lately, losing three of his last four games. As a result, Jonas Johansson is expected to start against the Ducks.
Johansson has been a solid replacement for Vasilevskiy, though he lost his most recent start 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens. Prior to that, Johansson posted a .966 save percentage in wins over the Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, and Florida Panthers.
Johansson is 4-2-1 this season with a 3.36 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
On Sunday, defenseman Erik Cernak will play in his 400th NHL game and is just three points away from hitting the 100-point milestone in his career.
