VIDEO: Blues Hand Ducks 8th Straight Loss; Zegras Records First NHL Point

By Mario Ramirez

Pregame:

The Ducks (6-11-5) face-offed against the St. Louis Blues (12-8-4) at Honda Center looking to stop their season high 7-game losing streak. The Ducks fell to the Blues 5-4 in their last contest despite mounting a third period comeback that saw them score three goals in the period including two of Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom‘s first career hat trick. Hampus Lindholm missed this game as the Ducks placed him on the IR. Ducks goaltender John Gibson was in goal looking to get the Ducks going in the right direction.

1st Period:

The Ducks came into the first period looking to get of to a fast start, however the the two teams would feel each other out for the first seven minutes with each team putting 2 shots on goal a piece. The Ducks were able to play a faster style of game with the reinsertion of Troy Terry, Danton Heinon and David Backes. The games first penalty would go against Ducks defenseman Josh Mahura when he was sent off for a hooking penalty with 5:57 remaining in the opening frame. The Blues power play would take advantage of the opportunity when Oskar Sundqvist was able to put the puck passed John Gibson giving the Blues a 1-0 lead.

Blues defenseman Torey Krug would take the game’s next penalty with only 38 seconds left in the opening period with an interference infraction. The Ducks failed to score before the ended of the period, leaving the remaining 1:23 for the second period. The shots on goal ended with each team putting 6 on the opposing net.

2nd Period:

Coming into the second period the Ducks were chasing a 1-0 score and had 1:23 on the Torey Krug penalty. Unfortunately for the Ducks the power play remained one of the weakest parts of their game. They were unable to find the back of the net with the remaining power play time, leaving the Blues with the one goal lead. With the teams playing for the second time in three days tempers started to flare, as there was two scrums one in each goal crease.

Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg was whistled for a slashing penalty with 10:05 left in he middle frame. The Blues power play didn’t take long to make the Ducks pay when Brayden Schenn hit the top corner past John Gibson for a 2-0 lead only seven seconds into the power play.

The Ducks would answer back at 5:47 remaining when Max Comtois would hammer home a rebound passed Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington making it a one goal game at 2-1. Despite both teams ringing shots off the post and crossbar neither was able to solve the opposing goaltenders again. The period ended with the Blues retaining the one goal lead at 2-1, with the shots on goal tallying 19-13 in favor of the Ducks.

3rd Period:

The Ducks came out strong to start the third period and had a few good opportunities to tie the score by Max Comtois and Troy Terry. However neither forward was able to put the puck passed Jordan Binnington as the score remained 2-1. Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly was sent off for a holding penalty giving the Ducks their second power play opportunity on the night with 12:42 remaining in the game. The Ducks power play was once again unable to capitalize on the man advantage keeping the score 2-1 only after Ducks goalie John Gibson stopped O’Reilly on a breakaway as he exited the penalty box.

Jani Hakanpaa committed the Ducks third penalty of the game when he was sent off for a tripping penalty with 8:31 left in the game. Once again the Ducks would pay for it when Blues forward Zach Sanford scored the third St. Louis power play goal of the night increasing their lead to two goals at 3-1.

The Ducks trailing by two goals pulled Gibson with 3:03 remaining in an effort to bring them within one goal. The Blues Marco Scandella was whistled for a holding penalty effectively giving the Ducks a six on four power play. The power play was again unsuccessful, however the Ducks did manage to score with 8.7 seconds left as Rickard Rakell put a shot passed Binnington with Trevor Zegras recording his first NHL point with the assist. The Blues prevailed 3-2 sending the Ducks to their 8th straight loss, shots on goal for the game ended up 29-21 in the Ducks favor.

Analysis:

The Ducks played a solid 5-on-5 game out shooting and out chancing the St. Louis Blues, however the Ducks gave up three power play goals. The Ducks are a team that has a very small margin of error to win games, giving up three power play goals is impossible for any team to overcome especially this Ducks team.

The positives are the young players seem to be making great progress in the cases of Max Comtois, Isac Lundestrom and Max Jones. Trevor Zegras recorded his first NHL point when he assisted Ricard Rakell’s third period goal. Zegras just has that look of a kid that belongs in the NHL and while this season is going to be a tough one the future is starting to look bright.

What’s Next?

The Ducks will look to end their 8 game losing streak on Friday in Colorado against the Avalanche.

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March 4th, 2021