VIDEO: Ducks Scrap For A Point
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks continued their homestead against the Arizona Coyotes. Max Comtois returned from his hand injury and skated with Ryan Getzlaf and Troy Terry. John Gibson started in net after being out a few game with a lower body injury. Scott Wedgewood was in goal for Arizona.
Recap
Nicolas Deslauriers and Liam O’Brien squared off at the beginning of this game.
Arizona would get on the board first as Travis Boyd would split the defense and score to make 1-0.
The Ducks would tie the game a s few minutes later as Kevin Shattenkirk scored on a power play. He received a pass from Cam Fowler and one timed it for the score.
Hampus Lindholm would then score about a minute later. He came down on a rush and shot the puck back across Wedgewood’s body beating him stick side.
The Ducks would get one more goal on a fortunate bounce. Jakob Silfverberg threw the puck towards the net and it redirected in off Derek Grant‘s skate. The Ducks led 3-1.
Sam Carrick would take a big hit from Johan Larsson, which he took exception too and they dropped the gloves.
Carrick got an extra two minutes as a result and the Coyotes Christian Fischer scored on the power play. The Ducks took a 3-2 lead to the locker room.
The Ducks started the second period on the power play, but did not convert.
Late in the period, Max Comtois almost scored as he broke in on Wedgewood alone, but was denied. In the next sequence Clayton Keller skated in alone on Gibson and scored to tie the game. The teams were tied 3-3 heading to the third period.
The Ducks regained the lead early in the third period. Trevor Zegras took a point shot that deflected off a Coyote player and into the net.
The Coyotes didn’t back down. Andrew Ladd scored to time the game and then Phil Kessel scored about a minute later to give Arizona a 5-4 lead.
Anaheim was able to respond with a power play goal. Lindholm scored his second goal of the game on point shot that beat a screened Wedgewood.
This game would need bonus hockey and Keller scored his second of game to earn the win for Arizona.
Analysis:
This was a wild and wide open contest in the first period, which saw five goals and two fights. The Ducks dominated the puck possession posting a 82.35 CF% and 76.92%, but a bad penalty resulted in late power play goal by Arizona, which kept them in this game.
The tables were turned in the second period and it was the Coyotes who carried the play. The Ducks went away from their speed and transition game, which cost them. Anaheim played Arizona’s style of game and took three penalties in the middle frame. They also gave up 21 shot attempts in the period and nearly escaped without giving up a goal until the final minute.
The Ducks did bounce back in the third period, but the Coyotes stayed right there with them to force overtime. The Ducks had too many defensive breakdowns in this contest and many as a result of Josh Manson being out of position. Gibson also looked rusty in his first game in action since December 11th against Pittsburgh.
The Ducks did earn a point against the Coyotes, but Arizona is the worst team in the Western Conference. Anaheim played down to Arizona’s level after the first period. The Ducks are vastly improved from what we have seen in the recent seasons, but they need to win games against struggling teams.
Team Stats/News:
Shattenkirk scored his 6th goal, which leads all Anaheim defensemen.
Lindholm had two goals on the night and now has five for the season.
The Ducks now have 23 goals from their defensemen in 32 games. Last season they only had 13 goals from their blue line in 56 games.
What’s Next?
The Ducks hit the road and play the Oilers on Monday at 6:30 PM PT.
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December 18th, 2021