Ducks hit the road for New York trying to get back on track

Most of the Ducks’ upcoming road trip will be akin to running in place, and in a familiar one for several members of the organization.

Of their four matches, the first three will be played against the New York City metropolitan area clubs, beginning Wednesday with the Islanders on Long Island. There, Ducks coach Greg Cronin was an assistant coach from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2014 to 2018. In his second stint, he guided Ducks wingers Ross Johnston and Ryan Strome.

Before this season began, Strome said that after last year’s miserable campaign, the Ducks should have been craving responsibility and accountability, and that Cronin was the man to engender a tectonic culture shift.

“If guys don’t come in looking for a challenge and embrace that with open arms, I think they’re in the wrong business,” Strome said. “I think that’s what guys should be longing for, and that’s what we’ve got in this coach.”

That eagerness paid off early, with a triumphant home opener in front of a packed house and, soon after, a stretch that included six straight victories and eight wins in 10 chances as well as penchants for hat tricks and dramatic comebacks. But amid a rash of injuries and innovations in ways to lose, the Ducks have won just one of the past dozen games, with no one-point losses to soften the blow. They’ve averaged exactly two goals per contest over that stretch, sinking them to the fifth lowest goals-per-game average in the NHL and the third lowest point total in its standings.

“You know the term ‘gripping the sticks too tight?’ That’s kind of, you know, sometimes how we feel, and that’s kind of something in your brain that you’ve just got to push to the back and just keep playing the right way,” said forward Max Jones. “I feel like we’re finding ways to get pucks to the net and we’re finding ways to create things. It’s just that extra oomph to put it in the net (that’s missing).”

While positioning, intensity and other details could certainly improve the Ducks’ fortunes in the most dangerous areas at both ends of the ice, where they were vexed by the Winnipeg Jets Sunday in a 4-2 loss that saw the Ducks squander a 2-0 lead, Cronin worded his message quite differently.

“We’ve lost 11 of 12 games, what have you got to lose now? Just play hockey. What’s it matter? It’s not the last week in April and we’re fighting for the (last) playoff spot,” Cronin said. “That’s just a sign of mental weakness. Just play the game. Do your job, win your puck battles, do what you have to do to be successful. If you’re gripping your stick, then that’s in your head.”

The loss of center Mason McTavish amid this lull further weakened a group that had already been missing two other formidable weapons, Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras. All three players traveled with the team and McTavish returned to practice Tuesday. Like Zegras, he was sporting a non-contact jersey, a sign of returns that appeared eventual rather than imminent. Drysdale did say that “hopefully I can get in a game here or two” on the road trip, and all three players could potentially suit up before the swing concludes in Detroit on Monday.

The Islanders will have their biggest threats on the ice with top scorer Mathew Barzal, whom Cronin coached at the outset of Barzal’s career, and Noah Dobson, their leading producer from the blue line. Bo Horvat has delivered after being acquired from Vancouver in a midseason trade last year. Former Duck Kyle Palmieri has three points in his past three games.