Sam Carrick absorbed a tough but late hit along the boards from Brayden McNabb of the Vegas Golden Knights in the final minutes of Friday afternoon’s game at T-Mobile Arena. Buddy Robinson, Carrick’s Ducks teammate, stepped in to confront McNabb, but Carrick stood up for himself.
McNabb is 6-foot-4 and weighs 214 pounds.
Carrick is generously listed at 6-foot, 200 pounds.
McNabb isn’t known as a fighter.
Carrick is perfectly willing to punch above his weight class.
After a moment or two, Carrick delivered a couple of right hands to McNabb’s noggin and the Vegas defenseman went down to the ice, a universal signal in the NHL that a fighter has had enough. Carrick wasn’t done, though, delivering another shot or two before the linesmen broke it up.
It was just another fight in Carrick’s long and winding hockey battle. Under normal circumstances, he might have been with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL on Friday. But these are not normal circumstances, and Carrick was filling a void in the Ducks’ lineup created by injuries and COVID-19 absences.
Carrick was scoreless while playing his 26th game this season, centering the Ducks’ fourth line, with Robinson and Nicolas Deslauriers on his wings. But he played a role in their 3-1 loss, and he was coming off a game in which he had scored his seventh goal of the season, five more than his previous high.
He’s been determined to make the most of his chance to play in the NHL this season, when he’s played twice as many games with the Ducks as he did in 2020-21. So far, he’s made it impossible for the Ducks to take him out of the lineup, filling a key role on their fourth line.
“I know him and I have the greatest amount of comfort with him because I’ve coached him for so long,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said, referring to previous stints with Carrick with the Gulls and also the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. “You can look at a guy like that and say, ‘It’s really surprising that he’s got seven goals and he’s in the league and all that.’ To me, I’m not surprised by it at all.”
FACTS AND FIGURES
Sam Steel returned to the lineup from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols and logged 11:38 of ice time Friday. He recorded two shots on goal, but he was on the ice for two of the Golden Knights’ three goals. He centered a line with Sonny Milano and Vinni Lettieri on his wings to start the game.
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Defenseman Cam Fowler traveled with the Ducks to Las Vegas but didn’t play after suffering an upper-body injury during their loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. The Ducks hope Fowler can practice Saturday and perhaps play Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Ducks also played without forwards Max Comtois and Trevor Zegras, who were in the COVID-19 protocols. Left wings Adam Henrique (lower-body injury) and Max Jones (torn chest tendon) and defenseman Josh Mahura (upper-body injury) remained on injured reserve.
In addition, the Ducks returned forward Bryce Kindopp to the Gulls and shifted defenseman Brendan Guhle from their taxi squad to San Diego. Defenseman Greg Pateryn was recalled from the taxi squad to the Ducks’ active roster, but he did not play Friday against Vegas.