After sandwiching a convincing victory between two blowout losses, the Ducks will have a chance to balance the ledger of their four-game road trip in its finale on Monday against the Buffalo Sabres.
They defeated Buffalo 4-2 at Honda Center on Jan. 23, largely behind strong performances from their veterans as Jakob Silfverberg had two goals and Cam Fowler contributed a pair of assists. They got another seasoned vet back on Saturday in two-time Stanley Cup winner Alex Killorn (knee), though his assist felt a bit like spitting in the ocean of offense that was a 9-2 defeat by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It will be the second straight game that the Ducks will play against one of defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin’s former teams. “The Russian Bear,” as he’s known to some, made an instant impression in Toronto, where the Ducks floundered on Saturday and Lyubushkin roamed the Maple Leafs’ blue line for 31 games down the stretch in 2022. He then moved across the border to Buffalo, where he led the Sabres in hits last season despite playing a modest 15 minutes per game.
“He’s a team-first guy, whether it’s blocking shots or finishing checks. He’s just a blue-collar guy in terms of all those qualities,” said Coach Greg Cronin via phone.
Known for his gregarious, upbeat demeanor, Lyubushkin has a “great sense of humor” and even appreciated a few jokes at his own expense, Cronin said.
Lyubushkin, 29, has frequently paired with rookie Pavel Mintyukov, 20, and both hail from Moscow originally, helping to create a natural mentorship.
“He’s very humble, and he’s been great with Minty,” Cronin said.
A 5-1 win in Ottawa was wedged between Saturday’s drubbing, which included a hat trick as part of a five-point night for Auston Matthews and nine Maple Leafs with multipoint performances, and a whimpering 5-0 shutout at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens.
In Montreal, Cronin was asked about any tension heading toward the trade deadline, at which the Ducks certainly project to be sellers.
“They’re young kids. I think they go to the rink every day with rainbows and lollipops in their minds. They just want to play hockey, right? So, the trade deadline is not going to impact them,” Cronin told reporters.
Yet the deadline could impact Mintyukov if Lyubushkin, whom the Ducks acquired over the summer in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick, gets flipped. For his part, as well as that of Silfverberg and Adam Henrique, Lyubushkin has been unfazed.
“They’re unbelievable professionals. I’ve talked to them daily about it. They just go in and do their work, they’re very workmanlike,” Cronin told reporters.
The Sabres also project to be sellers at the deadline, with their leading scorer Casey Mittelstadt being the most alluring name mentioned. But Mittelstadt, 25, has expressed a desire to stay in Buffalo and Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams shot down the trade speculation during an appearance on the “Schopp & Bulldog” podcast.
“I know there’s been some reports out there that we’re shopping him, that could not be further from the truth. That is just flat-out not true,” Adams said.
Buffalo has a multitude of free agents to be ahead of next season, when franchise defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, whose 73-point output from last season has proven somewhat tough to maintain this year, will enter the first year of a contract that will rise from $6 million to $11 million in annual average value. That will tie him for the second-highest cap hit among defensemen with the Kings’ Drew Doughty. Former No. 1 overall pick Owen Power’s raise will be even more substantial: he’ll go from making under $1 million to over $8 million next season.