Ducks at Penguins
The Anaheim Ducks are receiving a major test right out of the gate with a season-opening five-game road trip that began with a loss at defending Central Division champion Dallas on Thursday. The road gets no easier for the Ducks, who will clash with the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Andrew Cogliano supplied all the offense with a pair of goals in the 4-2 loss to Dallas, which coach Randy Caryle termed "frustrating" after his team piled up a 17-1 edge on shots on goal in the first period and 35-20 overall. The Ducks found reason for optimism on another front after agreeing with restricted free agent Richard Rakell on a six-year contract extension worth a reported $22.8 million, although the young Swede is not expected to be available for two weeks. Pittsburgh raised its Stanley Cup banner on Thursday and then survived a heavyweight battle with reigning Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington, prevailing 3-2 in a shootout. "It felt like a midseason game where you're in position and you pull one of those great wins off," said Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist, who had a power-play tally in the victory.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (0-1-1): Anaheim owned the league's top-ranked power play last season, converting on 23.1 percent of its chances, so going 0-for-23 with the man advantage in the preseason didn't necessarily seem cause for alarm. That might change after the Ducks failed on all five chances in Dallas and Corey Perry failed to register a shot in the game after collecting 12 goals and 12 assists on the power play in 2015-16. Former Penguins defenseman Simon Depres sat out the third period due to concussion-like symptoms that bothered him last season and is being sent to a specialist.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (1-0-0): Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, sidelined indefinitely with a concussion, skated Friday and is making progress, but remains day-to-day, coach Mike Sullivan said. The Penguins are fortunate to have another elite center in Evgeni Malkin, who scored one goal, assisted on another and tallied in the shootout in the opener. "Most teams don't have that luxury," teammate Chris Kunitz said. "'Geno' is an important guy for us. He's going to get more offensive zone time for himself with 'Sid' being out and showed that he can change a game at any time."
OVERTIME
1. Rakell, who had career highs with 20 goals and 43 points last season, is on the mend after having scar tissue removed from an appendectomy.
2. Penguins D Kris Letang logged 30:40 of ice time in the season opener.
3. The Ducks claimed F Emerson Etem, who spent his first three seasons with Anaheim, off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks.