The Anaheim Ducks were able to snap their 11-game losing streak last week but couldn’t follow it up with another solid performance on Sunday night. Not only were they trounced by the Edmonton Oilers, but they could now also be without their top goal-scorer for an extended period of time.
Terry Out of Lineup After Beagle Incident
After suffering a serious injury to his face thanks to Arizona Coyotes forward Jay Beagle during the Ducks’ April 1 matchup, Troy Terry was not in the lineup for Sunday night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Athletic’s Eric Stephens wrote that the Ducks believe Terry avoided the kind of facial damage that would have kept him out for weeks, or perhaps even the rest of the season (from ‘Stephens: Are the Ducks being punished for ‘skilling it up?’ A nuanced look at Jay Beagle, Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras’, The Athletic, 04/04/22).
While Terry’s injury seems to thankfully not be as serious as initially thought, he still does have quite a nasty cut above his left eye and plenty of bruising around the surrounding area.
There’s been plenty of discussion about whether Beagle’s actions were warranted — I won’t go into detail about that here— and Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins along with Trevor Zegras, in particular, were not happy with how everything unfolded.
Eakins was also unhappy about the comments that Coyotes’ commentator Tyson Nash made, with the latter saying that Beagle’s actions were warranted because the Ducks were running up the score and “skilling it up” (The Ducks beat the Coyotes 5-0 with Zegras also scoring his second lacrosse goal of the season).
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It’s unclear whether Terry will be good to go for Wednesday night’s game against the Calgary Flames, but it’s likely that the training staff will play it safe with the 30-goal scorer given that the Ducks don’t have much to play for aside from pride for the remainder of the season.
Aston-Reese Scores First Ducks Goal
Quite possibly the only bright spot from Sunday’s demolition was Zach Aston-Reese scoring his first goal as a member of the Ducks.
Aston-Reese was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline along with Dominik Simon, goaltending prospect Calle Clang and a second-round pick in exchange for Rickard Rakell.
Aston-Reese is typically a defensive-minded forward and has been playing primarily in the Ducks’ bottom-six since joining up with the team. His goal on Sunday was just his third of the season. An unrestricted free agent this summer, he is one of a handful of players looking to make a good impression in hopes of being a part of next season’s team.
Jones Unlikely to Return This Season
Max Jones has been working hard to get back into game shape after missing all but two games this season due to a torn pectoral muscle he suffered in the second game of the season against the Flames.
While Jones had recently returned to the ice in a non-contact jersey, the OC Register’s Elliott Teaford wrote yesterday that Jones is unlikely to return this season (from ‘Ducks’ Max Jones seems unlikely to return this season’, OC Register, 04/04/22).
“I think it’s going to be a stretch that he plays again this season,” said Eakins. Teaford writes that a final decision on Jones will likely be made in the coming days.
The remaining games of the season are all about development and staying healthy for the Ducks. With their playoff hopes dashed after a horrendous month of March, all eyes are now geared toward next season.
