Troy Terry back for now for Ducks’ game vs. Oilers
The Ducks star missed the past three road games as he and his wife are expecting their first child soon, so he won’t travel to Arizona for Saturday’s game.
IRVINE — Troy Terry was a busy man when the Ducks were on the road this past week.
“I’ve been very domestic,” he said Tuesday. “I’m getting good at it.”
Terry stayed behind when the team was on the road, first in Seattle and then back-to-back games in Edmonton and Calgary on the weekend. Terry and his wife Dani are expecting their first child and, with the possibility of an early birth, he didn’t want to be out of the country.
He will play Wednesday at home against the Edmonton Oilers but won’t be traveling to Arizona for Saturday’s game against the Coyotes. Terry said it has been odd watching the games from afar.
“Because I’m in it all the time, I understand what they go through to get ready for games and all that,” Terry said. “I’m seeing the group chat of where they’re going and what’s going on. It’s just weird not being on the road and watching them go on the ice.
“I think it’s different than (watching) from the press box because you’re looking straight down and it looks easy. On TV, you still get an appreciation for how tight checking it is. Especially the teams they’re playing, those were playoff teams and desperate teams. It’s hard to sit there and watch and not be able to be there. But I’m proud of how they played.”
The Ducks, who have lost eight consecutive games, have known what it is like to be without Terry for an extended period – he was injured in the first game after the All-Star break in February and missed the next seven – but the most recent absence reinforced how important he is individually and collectively, specifically to linemates Mason McTavish and Max Jones.
Terry is the Ducks’ second-leading scorer with 56 points, four behind Trevor Zegras, who has played 10 more games.
“The one thing we’ve really learned here with him out, he is a driver of the line,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “That had been the line and they played very well there. Suddenly, without Troy, the matchup becomes a little bit different for them. There’s a bigger challenge.
“Wherever we’re going to play him, he just comes in and takes control and drives the play.”
When the Ducks were on the road, Terry was able to skate with Adam Henrique, who has been out since Feb. 21 with a knee injury and is close to coming back.
Would that mean returning against the Oilers?
Eakins said it was up in the air and that they would make a decision in the morning.
“It’s been a good week, as far as our plan and trying to get back in the lineup,” Henrique said. “It’ll be nice to get back tomorrow or (Saturday). It was good skating with him (Terry) and hanging out for the week.”
Ice chips
Rookie Nikita Nesterenko did not practice and is dealing with flu-like symptoms. Goaltender John Gibson, who left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, was on the ice at practice Tuesday.
“It’s amazing – that young man. He’s so competitive,” Eakins said of Gibson. “Going through the first period, he was having some discomfort and then into the second it was getting worse.”
Eakins wanted to take him out, but when they talked about it at the intermission, Gibson insisted on staying, Eakins said.
“Here’s a guy – where we’re at in the season and the game – at that point, I think it was 4-0. And Edmonton had really turned it up. He could have just said, ‘I’m going to throw to (Lukas Dostal), but he went right back into the net,” Eakins said.
“Then it got to the point where it was too much and so we got him out of the net. So it’s settled down and I would expect him to start (Wednesday), but we’ll see how the night goes.”
Edmonton at Ducks
When: Wednesday, approximately 7:22 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
TV: TNT