Ducks Come Up Short In Minnesota

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Ducks hit the road to face the Wild in Minnesota. Lukas Dostal was in net against Jesper Wallstedt. Chris Kreider did not play due to feeling ill. Radko Gudas also did not play and is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Mason McTavish got the Ducks on the board about halfway through the first period. He scored on the power play from the left face-off circle while Wallstedt was screened.

Danila Yurov tied up the game about six minutes when he scored in close to the left of the net. The teams were tied up at one after the first period.

Hunter Haight scored with just under nine minutes left to go in the second period to make it a 2-1 lead.

Former Duck Robby Fabbri scored with about seven minutes left to go. He was able to get the puck just over the line for the score.

The Ducks pulled their goalie in the final minutes and McTavish scored his second goal of the game. He tipped a shot by Mikael Granlund past Wallstedt.

Anaheim didn’t score again and lost 3-2.

Analysis:

The Ducks scored first, but then the Wild answered to tie things up in the first period. Anaheim outshot Minnesota 11-6 in the first period. The Wild scored in the second period and third to take a 3-1 lead. The Ducks got one back, but couldn’t tie up the game falling one goal short.

Overall, the Ducks played a decent game outshooting the Wild 37 to 20. Anaheim posted a CF% of 60% and FF% of 57.32%. But they still gave up three goals to a Wild team that rested 10, yes 10 starters!

Wallstedt was a big reason why the Wild were able to win as he stopped 35 of 37 shots on goal by Anaheim. While “Leaky” Dostal has been shaky in the last few weeks. Recently he has constantly been giving up at least one goal a game that he shouldn’t.

With the loss the Ducks can only finish as high as second place in the Pacific Division. They can also finish as low as the second wild card, which would mean they would have to face Colorado.

There are still many scenarios as to who the Ducks will play, but the bottom line is the Ducks are not ready for playoff hockey. It will be a miracle for them to advance past the first round with the way they are currently playing.

Team Notes:

The Ducks are 1-6-2 in their last nine games.

What’s Next?

The Ducks finish the season in Nashville against the Predators on Thursday at 5PM.

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April 14th, 2026