The Ducks returned home this morning from a road back-to-back having captured three points out of a possible four. They took both the Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks to overtime, falling in the shootout to the former but prevailing in the latter half.

“I think it’s really hard on players to come out of such a long break like that,” said head coach Dallas Eakins after Wednesday’s afternoon practice. “I personally don’t love it for the players and for us to come out and not just play one game but back-to-back it was literally like a balloon on the bench and the air was just slowly leaking out of it.”

Lineup additions provide a much-needed boost

The final half of the game against the Blackhawks indeed felt like a trudge and it was because of fresh insertions into the lineup that the Ducks managed to keep it together. Brett Leason made his first appearance in five games and potted himself a goal while Derek Grant returned from a 26-game layoff due to injury. Both players made up two-thirds of the new-look fourth line, with Jayson Megna centering the pair. Megna had a goal of his own, his first with the Ducks.

“Granter, Megs and Leas, they gave us some energy,” said Eakins. “They started taking on some extra minutes there and they were able to get us some offense and a chance to win the game, so it’s huge that those guys come out and do that.”

“People really discount how hard it is––especially on those fourth lines––to sit on that bench for a while and then to come out and perform and then go and sit on that bench (again) for a while. I think sometimes the easy thing is, ‘Well, just play your fourth line more’. Except that means that those top guys that everybody loves to watch play and that are excellent at what they do, that means they’re not on the ice as much. So it is a very fine tipping point either way.”

Filling a Terry-shaped hole

One of Anaheim’s top players, Troy Terry, left the matchup against the Stars just two minutes into the first period after taking a stick to the ribs while entering the offensive zone. He immediately headed to the bench and did not return for the remainder of the game. He was also unavailable for the Blackhawks game and was not seen at practice on Wednesday. “He’s getting checked out today so we should know later today or tomorrow,” said Eakins.

In Terry’s absence, Ryan Strome was elevated to the top line alongside Adam Henrique and Trevor Zegras. Strome has spent time playing alongside Zegras at times this season and the pair have already shown chemistry in the short time that they’ve played together.

“He’s awesome,” said Zegras. “It feels like he sees the game very similarly to me in terms of spacial awareness on the ice. We try to create offense in a similar way so it’s really easy playing with him whenever we get the chance.”

Eakins credits Strome with being a selfless player, especially when it comes to moving around the lineup. He began the season down the middle but since then has played all three forward positions.

“There are players in this league who are ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, I’m a centerman. I just play center, that’s what I do’ and Stromer’s the first one (to say) ‘You put me wherever you need me, I’m here to help the team always’, another selfless guy and moving him around the lineup is a great luxury for our team to have, he’s filled every role that we’ve asked him to very well.”

“Yeah, I mean, you can never replace a guy like him,” said Strome. “I think everybody’s going to get a chance to move up in the lineup a little bit. When someone goes out, it kind of bumps everyone else up a little bit, so just a good opportunity for guys. You can never replace him but I think by committee if everyone can chip in a little bit—which we’ve had the last four or five games—I think that’s the key.”

Home Sweet Home

Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins will be only the Ducks’ second in the last four weeks. There’s little time to get comfortable though as they have five more road games coming up before the end of the month. Anaheim has just two home games remaining in February after Friday’s matchup.

“I think to be honest with you, our fans have been really good this year,” said Strome. “They’ve stuck with us in some tough times. We’ve found ways to make the games exciting for them with some big comebacks and overtime wins, but it’s also been some tough games and they’ve stuck with us and there have been good crowds the whole year. They’ve been loud and they’ve been into the game. As a player that’s all you can ask for, so it’ll be good to be home.”