The Ducks packed their bags, their 9-17-6 record and their minus-39 goal differential Sunday and hit the road for a season-long five-game trip to play the Minnesota Wild twice, the St. Louis Blues twice and the Colorado Avalanche. They don’t return home to play until April 2.
They also carried with them the knowledge that they might have finally found a consistent scoring combination in the form of a line of center Adam Henrique, left wing Trevor Zegras and right wing Troy Terry. They have each scored at least one point in three games since Ducks coach Dallas Eakins teamed them together.
Henrique has three goals and two assists in the past three games; Terry has one goal and three assists; and Zegras has one goal and two assists.
Numbers like those tend to stand out in a season in which production has been elusive, especially for the most accomplished players on the Ducks’ roster. Chemistry has been difficult as well, but Zegras, Henrique and Terry appear to have found something resembling it since Eakins put them together.
Success has been fleeting for everyone in a Ducks’ uniform this season, though.
“A few weeks back, it was the opposite story,” Henrique said of his current streak. “I wasn’t scoring. I don’t feel, personally, that I’ve changed too much in my game. Sometimes hockey is hard. You just can’t seem to do something right. Sometimes it just seems to be going your way.”
Henrique has a team co-leading nine goals and six assists in 28 games, but he also was placed on the taxi squad for three games last month and was a healthy scratch for one in January. He has five goals and five assists in the past nine games.
“I think we’re just finding some of that chemistry,” Henrique said of clicking with his new linemates. “Troy and I had it in the past at times prior to this year. It seemed to be hard to come by throughout this year, moving stuff around and trying to find that chemistry and sometimes it clicks.
“You bring in ‘Z’ and you’re going to have a bit of an adjustment period with a young kid coming in (to the lineup) and the hype around the situation. I think he’s done a good job of settling in. He’s just a skilled player, just trying to play the right way and do the right things that give us success. I think that allows his skill to come out and create whether it’s for me or for Troy or whoever is on the ice.”
Henrique, 31, is a grizzled veteran who has played 693 games in his career and played in the Stanley Cup Final with the New Jersey Devils in 2011-12.
Terry, 23, and Zegras, 20, are still learning. Terry has played 106 games. Zegras has played 12.
“Your skill level can be through the roof, but if you don’t put in the work and do the proper things sometimes it’s hard for that to come out,” Henrique said. “So, I think we’ve done a good job, and (Zegras) has done a good job and Troy on the other side, he’s much the same player. His skill level is there. He’s not afraid to get into the corners and win those puck battles. As of late, we seem to have found that chemistry.
“Hopefully, that’s something we can continue to build moving forward.”
Ducks (9-17-6) at Minnesota (18-10-1)
When: 4:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
TV: NBCSN
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