Ducks Come Up Empty

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks returned home and squared off with the Minnesota Wild. John Gibson was in net against Filip Gustavsson. Mason McTavish returned to the lineup after missing a few games with a lower-body injury.

Recap

In the opening period, the teams battled to a scoreless tie. Both teams had a power play chance and didn’t convert. Wild held a 9 to 6 shot advantage over the Ducks.

The Wild scored two quick goals to start the second period. Ryan Hartman scored just 35 seconds in after getting to a rebound. Jonathon Merrill then scored about a minute later as Gibson was screened on the play.

Minnesota made it 3-0 just over halfway through the period with a power play goal by Kirill Kaprizov. Anaheim had two power plays in the period, but didn’t score on either one. Wild had a three goal advantage at the end of two periods.

In the third, the Ducks killed off a couple of Wild power plays. Minnesota then scored with about seven minutes to go to make it a 4-0 game. Anaheim ended up being shut out again by Minnesota and lost 4-0.

Analysis:

The losing streak continues and has now hit seven games for Anaheim. They played a decent first period, but then things fell apart in the second. There just isn’t anything going right for this team and when they get down by a few goals it seems impossible for them to comeback.

They had another game where they were shorthanded five times. The Ducks were able to kill off four of them, but discipline still continues to be an issue as of late. They are 11-for-22 in the past five games. Anaheim also hasn’t been able to do much of anything on the power play and went zero-for-three in this contest.

On a positive note, Leo Carlsson played well and nearly jammed home a puck in the second period. He got around two Wild players and almost beat Gustavsson with a backhand. A goal would have made it a 2-1 game at that point and maybe it would have given the Ducks some life. Carlsson had three shots on goal and played almost 18 minutes.

Team Notes/Stats:

Trevor Zegras has been skating in a non-contact jersey. It’s unclear when he will return.

Radko Gudas (upper-body) is out and his return timetable is unknown.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday at 7PM.

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March 20th, 2024