Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 31st 2024

Preview and Prediction

The Pittsburgh Penguins will attempt to avoid matching their longest losing streak under the guidance of coach Mike Sullivan when they face off against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday evening.

The Penguins have fallen in six consecutive games, being outscored 27-13 in the process.

Sullivan, who is currently in his 10th year with Pittsburgh, stated that there are various factors contributing to this downturn, but it all begins with the decisions made with the puck.

"We are putting ourselves and our teammates in challenging situations," Sullivan explained. "The first step towards becoming a strong defensive team is managing the puck effectively. Otherwise, we are inviting our opponents to score easily."

Indeed, the Penguins have allowed at least four goals in each of their last seven games and have given up nine goals in 11 games this season.

"We are giving up too much," said Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby. "It is difficult to win consistently when you are giving up the quality and quantity of chances that we are. We need to find a way to limit our mistakes. And if we do make them, they cannot be significant ones."

Sullivan emphasized the need for the Penguins to prioritize defense.

"We are going to defend our way out of this," he stated. "We cannot rely on our offense to get us out of this situation. That is what we are working on. It all starts with our mindset and attitude. Our intentions need to be in the right place. When they are, we have a chance to improve defensively."

The Ducks will enter the final game of their four-game road trip with a sense of confidence after defeating the New York Islanders 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Anaheim received another stellar performance from goalie Lukas Dostal, who made 40 saves against the Islanders. This was the second time this season that he has reached this mark.

He has also allowed two goals or less in his last four starts.

"He was fantastic," praised Anaheim coach Greg Cronin. "We knew that they would be taking a lot of shots, so we were prepared for it. There are certain teams in the league that play a certain style of hockey that leads to a lot of shots. Lukas did an excellent job, and I thought our team did a great job of blocking shots as well."

One area where the Ducks have shown improvement as the season progresses is their power play.

They started the season 0-for-20 with the man-advantage and were 2-for-26 heading into Tuesday's game. However, they managed to score their first two goals of the game on the power play and finished 2-for-3, bringing their power play percentage up to 13.8% for the season.

"I think we are just supporting each other on the power play," said Troy Terry, who scored the second power play goal against New York. "Even when things are not going our way, we know that we have three or four players battling for the puck, and we know where our teammates are positioned for a pass."

Terry was referring to the centering pass made by Mason McTavish that resulted in his goal, as well as the tip-in goal by Leo Carlsson off a shot from Frank Vatrano that resulted in the other power-play tally.

"It took some pressure off and gave us more confidence around the net," Terry added.

Terry's goal on Tuesday was the 100th of his career and extended his point streak to eight games, during which he has scored five goals and recorded three assists.

PREDICTION

Anaheim Ducks

3

4

Pittsburgh Penguins

Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins