There is the five-second rule that we all remember as kids, when something tasty fell to the kitchen floor, but that’s a discussion for another day in another forum. Coach Dallas Eakins spoke recently of another five-second rule, one he’d like the Ducks to follow a great deal more closely.
The Ducks have given up goals in short order too frequently this season, including in losses Thursday and Saturday to the Minnesota Wild. The Wild scored first-period goals 38 seconds apart Thursday and 1:10 apart Saturday, deflating moments in each case.
“It’s the five-second rule,” Eakins said. “Hey, OK, they scored a goal, let’s take a mental note of what we could have done better. Or maybe there was nothing we could do better. Maybe it was an unbelievable play they made or it was a fluke or whatever it was, and let’s get ready for our next shift.
“It’s as simple as that.”
It’s all part of the game within the game, as far as Eakins is concerned.
“Right now that’s our biggest challenge,” he said. “We have no problem system-wise. System-wise, with our power play, we need better execution. (But) our penalty kill has been very good. The cloud that overhangs us right now is a choice mentally.
“It’s either to stay here in the moment and be ready or stay back in a mistake or I haven’t been playing well or I only have one goal or whatever it is. That’s not only for our players, it’s for our coaching staff, as well. It’s something we talked about (Sunday morning).
“Yeah, (Saturday) night hurt, it was a kick in the groin. But our job is to come in here and prepare and get better today, and that’s it. Our energy has to be up. That’s where the staff has to lead the group. A negative attitude, or a poor-me attitude, it’ll kill you.”
FLURRY OF ACTIVITY
The Ducks’ recall of Trevor Zegras from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL wasn’t the only move they made Sunday, but it was the only one they announced. They also assigned Adam Henrique, Josh Mahura, Vinni Lettieri and Anthony Stolarz to their taxi squad, per the website capfriendly.com
Henrique cleared waivers earlier in the day, as expected. Mahura played in the Ducks’ loss Saturday to the Wild. Lettieri and Stolarz returned to the taxi squad after playing in the Gulls’ victory Saturday over the Colorado Eagles. Lettieri had two goals and Stolarz made 36 saves.
Andy Welinski was the fifth member of the taxi squad, as of Monday morning. Teams may carry between four and six players on their taxi squad this season in case of COVID-19 or other medical emergencies. It’s also useful for salary cap purposes.
In addition, Sonny Milano was shifted to injured reserve from his long-term injury conditioning loan to the Gulls. Milano had two assists in two games with the Gulls, a loss Friday to the Bakersfield Condors in addition to their victory Saturday over Colorado.
INJURY UPDATES
Josh Manson “inches closer” to a return to the Ducks’ lineup, as Eakins phrased it. Manson has been sidelined since suffering an oblique strain during a fight with Jordan Greenway of the Wild in a Jan. 18 game at Honda Center. He was expected to be sidelined up to six weeks.
“He is to the point where he’s ready to join us in some capacity,” Eakins said.
Fellow defenseman Hampus Lindholm “is progressing very well,” according to Eakins. Lindholm was forced from Thursday’s game against the Wild because of a unspecified lower body injury and could not play in Saturday’s rematch.
Lindholm was expected to join the Ducks for their two-game trip to Arizona.
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