Last but not least—or so they hoped—the Ducks became the final NHL team to make its 2015-16 debut. By the time they took to the ice Saturday at the SAP Center for a goaltending festival that turned into a 2-0 victory for the Sharks, several teams had played their third games of the season and others were playing their second game.
“It seems like it’s been a long time,” Coach Bruce Boudreau said of the wait since Wednesday, when the league launched its season.
It might have seemed especially lengthy for a team that’s beginning to regard time as an enemy after three straight seasons of Game 7 playoff eliminations.