By Matt Vevoda
AnaheimDucks.com

"I think anytime you play a game and you don't win, you try to learn from your mistakes first of all and second of all, you try to look at some positive from that game that you can carry into your next one," Todd Marchant said.

Following a whirlwind 24 hours that featured two flights and a 2-0 loss to the NHL-leading Sharks, the Ducks were back at practice on Friday at Anaheim ICE with their attention narrowed in on the positives from the short trip to the Bay Area.

Despite the shutout loss that dropped their record to 16-11-3 on the season, the Ducks held surging San Jose to 27 shots on the evening (they rank second in the league with 35.8 attempts per contest) and to just goals two tallies on the scoreboard.

“We can’t look at it as a game that we’re going to get frustrated and hang our heads,” Ducks forward Todd Marchant said. “I think anytime you play a game and you don’t win, you try to learn from your mistakes first of all and second of all, you try to look at some positive from that game that you can carry into your next one.”

Tops in the league with 104 goals, the Sharks have only been kept to two goals or less on seven occasions in 28 games. After last night, the Ducks have now done it to them twice in three meetings (the other being San Jose’s only time shutout thus far, a 4-0 loss in Anaheim on Oct. 17).

“I think in last night’s game we worked hard and held them under 30 shots in their building, which is a positive,” Marchant said. “But we didn’t stick to the structure that we had been doing recently. Our execution wasn’t where we needed to be. As a result, they come away with a 2-0 win.”

With San Jose owning the league’s best record at 23-3-2, the Ducks looked at the game as somewhat of a measuring stick on where they currently stand. “They are the best team in the National Hockey League right now,” Marchant said. “What does that tell us after last night’s game? We’ve got work to do. There are areas of our game that need to be better both as a team and as individuals. We need to correct that on Sunday night.”

"You can't be a solid hockey club without a good home record," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. "Hopefully our home ice issues are behind us. We've got good hockey clubs coming in. We have to be mentally prepared and focused to play the game."

Back at home for Sunday’s tilt with the Minnesota Wild, the Ducks will look to continue a four-game winning streak at Honda Center. Uncharacteristically starting the year off with a 1-3 mark in their building, Anaheim has since bounced back and now holds a 9-6-2 home record.

“You can’t be a solid hockey club without a good home record,” said Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, whose group was 80-25-18 the past three seasons in Orange County. “We’ve had a good home record in this building. It’s not a given. You have to work at it. Hopefully our home ice issues are behind us. We’ve got good hockey clubs coming in. We have to be mentally prepared and focused to play the game.”

Said Marchant, “We’ve got to make Honda Center a tough place to play. You got to use that to your advantage. We’ve done a better job of it lately and have to continue to do that.”