Struggling to post victories and stay out of the penalty box, both the Montreal Canadiens and the host Anaheim Ducks are looking to get back into the win column on Wednesday.
Anaheim has lost its last three games, while the Habs are on a four-game skid heading into the West Coast portion of a five-game road trip.
The first stop on the Canadiens' trip was a lopsided 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. The Habs had a season-low 22 shots, while the Bruins' 44 shots marked the second-highest shot total by a Montreal opponent this season.
"I know what we're capable of each and every night. Recently, it hasn't been there," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. "Our start (against Boston) was pretty bad, they got (us) hemmed in our zone a lot. Took too many penalties against a really good team, and it cost us a lot."
The Ducks faced a similar fate in their last game, a 3-1 home loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. The Blues had six power plays, and St. Louis forward Pavel Buchnevich scored the eventual game-winning goal while the Ducks were in an extended short-handed stretch in the first period.
"I think the penalties, the four-minute (to Mason McTavish) and the two-minute (to Pavel Mintyukov) right after that, probably wasn't a good situation for us. We weren't getting into a rhythm," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said.
The Ducks and Canadiens rank first and second in the NHL in penalties taken and total ice time short-handed. The Arizona Coyotes (254 minutes) are barely ahead of the Ducks (253) in total penalty minutes, with Montreal sitting third in the league with 232.
Despite this heavy workload, Anaheim's penalty-kill unit has been very impressive of late. Opponents have scored on only three of 34 power-play opportunities during the Ducks' last nine games.
John Gibson has also been contributing to the goal prevention, with a .926 save percentage and 2.27 goals-against average over 11 starts. The Ducks could keep riding the hot hand in Gibson on Wednesday, or the struggling Lukas Dostal might get a chance to get on track.
Because Jake Allen started against the Bruins, Montreal's goaltender rotation likely means that Sam Montembeault will face Anaheim. Cayden Primeau has also been part of the mix recently, getting starts in two of the Habs' previous six games.
Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj (upper-body injury) isn't making the trip to Anaheim, and forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower-body injury) was placed on the injured reserve Monday. For added depth, the Habs called Jayden Struble up from the AHL for what might be the defenseman's NHL debut.
McTavish scored the Ducks' only goal Sunday, continuing the 20-year-old forward's strong start. His 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) tie him with Frank Vatrano for the team lead through 18 games.
The Canadiens haven't had a regulation victory in their last 13 games, collecting four overtime/shootout wins amidst the 4-8-1 stretch.
Inconsistency has been Anaheim's early-season narrative. The Ducks started the season 1-4-0, caught fire with six consecutive wins, but followed that up with a
2-5-0 record in their last seven games.
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