Anaheim Ducks: Daniel Sprong Leads the Flock (Three Stars of the Week)

The Anaheim Ducks end the week 2-2-1, having finally broken their streak. Three players stood above the rest, earning them our Three Stars of the Week.

Every week at Pucks of a Feather, we pride ourselves in giving recognition to the three Anaheim Ducks who have had quality performances. However, I must admit that it has been quite difficult for us to choose these past few weeks.

Nevertheless, with a twelve game losing streak no longer looming over our heads we were finally able to put our frustrations aside and pick things back up. We all collectively agreed that these three players deserve to be acknowledged for their outstanding performances last week.

Anaheim Ducks Third Star — Derek Grant

A surprising move by General Manager, Bob Murray, has worked out in the Anaheim Ducks favor. At least, it has this week.

After their twelfth loss, Murray put his foot down and shook things up quite a bit. One of the moves he made was re-acquiring Derek Grant from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Joseph Blandisi.

While it was sad to see Blandisi’s departure from the San Deigo Gulls, at least for me, I have a feeling he will have more opportunities with the Penguins. Plus, let me just reemphasize the fact that we re-acquired Elite 1C, Derek Grant!

I must admit, I was a little hesitant to be excited about this trade, especially because Grant had only five points to his name prior to the trade. Nevertheless, he came back into the lineup and picked right back up where he had left off last season.

Since his return, Grant has been paired with Troy Terry and Max Jones on the third line. The three of them taking the place of the shutdown line.

He scored the game-winning goal for the Anaheim Ducks during their Saturday matinee against the New Jersey Devils. To be quite honest, the third line, with Grant leading the charge, has been one of the better lines for the Anaheim Ducks during their past three games.

The team, as a whole, doesn’t look good by any means, but Grant was a smart acquisition by Bob Murray and I think he will be a tremendous asset in the Anaheim Ducks bottom six.

Anaheim Ducks Second Star — Troy Terry

Troy Terry made his triumphant return to the Anaheim Ducks line up on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. Terry didn’t manage to generate any shots on goal or produce any points during that game, but he definitely looked more confident that he did during his first stint with the Ducks earlier this season.

He also had one of the higher Corsi For Percentages (51.9) of the night. However, Corsi For Percentages aside, he truly shined during the game against the New Jersey Devils.

Ducks Nation had been waiting for Terry to score his first NHL since Game 1. In fact, I head way too many times, “If he could just score one goal, I think he’d get his confidence back.” Unfortunately, he was sent down before that could happen. Luckily he got his second chance and he did not disappoint.

10:38 into the opening period, an opportunity set up by Hampus Lindholm and Daniel Sprong led to Terry’s first NHL goal. Later in the game, he was responsible for helping Derek Grant score the Anaheim Ducks game-winning goal.

He looks like a completely different player this time around and I have a feeling he is going to be a huge asset to the Ducks from here on out.

Anaheim Ducks First Star — Daniel Sprong

Daniel Sprong has been a good acquisition for the Anaheim Ducks since the day Bob Murray traded Marcus Pettersson to the Pittsburgh Penguins for him. He’s only played a total of 21 games for the franchise, but he only has one goal less than Rickard Rakell.

While he hasn’t been producing points every game, the team is definitely better with him than they are without him. This week, he stood out a lot. Especially because he has been producing for the team in the midst of their losing streak.

While his efforts in the first few games of the week didn’t really count for much, because the Ducks still lost. He was one of the only names from the roster that was regularly producing during those twelve games.

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There are only two players on the entire roster who produced more during the losing streak than Sprong, and that would be Adam Henrique and Nick Ritchie who both had 7 points. Sprong’s three goals and three assists actually gave the Anaheim Ducks a fighting chance during a few of their games.

However, this isn’t about the losing streak, this is about last week! Sprong had two assists during the Ducks game against the Winnipeg Jets, first on Rickard Rakell’s goal and then again on Andrew Cogliano‘s second-period goal.

Although the Ducks lost that game, Sprong is a big reason why the Ducks were able to take one of the best teams in the league into overtime.

He had another two-point night last week against the New Jersey Devils. After Marcus Johansson opened up the scoring for New Jersey, it took Sprong less than three minutes to answer back and tie the game with a beautiful snapshot.

Less than a minute later, he would set up Hampus Lindholm to assist Troy Terry on his first NHL goal. If Daniel Sprong keeps playing the way he has been, it won’t be long before our Jonathan Maxfield’s bold prediction for 2019 comes to fruition. A four-point week isn’t bad for the kid who never really got a chance in Pittsburgh.

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