Devils @ Ducks RECAP: Shutdown goaltending, special teams lift Ducks to dominant 4-0 victory over the Devils
The Anaheim Ducks (3-4-3, 9 points) celebrated Día de los Muertos at Honda Center as they hosted the New Jersey Devils (4-2-1, 9 points). A combination of excellent goaltending and superior special teams elevated Anaheim to an impressive 4-0 victory over New Jersey.
Lineup Changes
Despite being one of the Ducks’ worst offensive players at 5v5, Nicolas Deslauriers supplanted Max Comtois as the 2nd line LWer for this game, while Comtois was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Ducks Head Coach Dallas Eakins said earlier today that Comtois is “in a rut, but [we] still have great belief in him”. Although Comtois’ actual GF and GA statistics have taken a turn for the worse this season, his on-ice metrics are similar to last year, making it clear that his benching is likely a result of decreased goals and assists numbers rather than a decline in on-ice chance and shot generation (see tweet summarizing these advanced metrics from Crash The Pond’s Jake Rudolph).
1st Period
The Devils dominated 5v5 shot and chance generation during the 1st period, posting a 56.3 CF% and 84.1 xGF%, respectively. Their relentless forecheck helped in creating 4 High Danger Chances, as opposed to 0 such chances created by the Ducks. However, John Gibson made several remarkable saves, and Anaheim’s special teams came up huge during the first period. The Ducks successfully killed the Devils powerplay, and went on a powerplay of their own when Derek Grant drew a slashing penalty on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity. The Anaheim powerplay, which has been a key strength of the team this season, capitalized on this opportunity when all-time franchise points leader Ryan Getzlaf lasered a slapshot past Devils goalie Jonathan Bernier with 7:55 remaining in the period, procuring his first goal of the season (assisted by Vinny Lettieri and Cam Fowler) and giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead. This would end up being the only goal scored during the first period, and Anaheim headed into the 1st intermission retaining ther 1-0 lead over New Jersey.
2nd Period
Anaheim’s play was improved during the 2nd period, where they posted a 42.9 CF% and a 42 xGF% at 5v5. Although the Devils still controlled play at 5v5, their highly aggressive forecheck came back to haunt them at the beginning of the 2nd period. Halfway into a Ducks powerplay, Nico Hischier tripped Cam Fowler in the neutral zone, which created a 1:04 2-man advantage for Anaheim. It didn’t take long for the Ducks to capitalize on this golden opportunity, as Ryan Getzlaf fed a beautiful cross-zone pass to Troy Terry, who rifled the puck in the back of the net for his 6th goal of the season, giving Anaheim a 2-0 lead. Terry’s goal extended his point streak to 9 games, the longest streak in the NHL to date this season.
The Ducks penalty-kill unit came up big again midway through the period, killing off a Sam Steel tripping penalty by allowing no shots, enabling Anaheim to retain their 2-0 lead. New Jersey then committed a too many men on the ice penalty with 7:19 remaining in the period, giving Anaheim their 4th powerplay chance of the evening. However, 1:05 into the powerplay, Jamie Drysdale committed a tripping penalty, negating the Ducks advantage. Anaheim successfully killed the truncated Devils powerplay, and the Devils were soon called for their second too many men on the ice penalty with just under 2:00 remaining in the period. The Ducks were unable to convert on the initial portion of this powerplay, and they headed into the 3rd period with their 2-0 lead still intact.
This was a better period overall for Anaheim, and their excellent special teams and goaltending propelled them into the 3rd period with a 2-0 advantage over New Jersey.
3rd Period
Anaheim took control of this game during the 3rd period, posting a 48.07 xGF% and 66.7 CF% at 5v5. The Ducks scored on a 2-on-1 breakaway opportunity, where Troy Terry entered the zone and held onto the puck, firing a beautifully placed shot past Jonathan Bernier to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead. Trevor Zegras was then called for a holding penalty, which the Ducks successfully killed in large part due to several excellent saves from John Gibson. During another penalty kill after a Delay Of Game call on Kevin Shattenkirk, Derek Grant possessed the puck in the Devils zone and made a crisp cross-zone pass to Isac Lundestrom, who skillfully corralled the puck and scored on a backhand shot to increase Anaheim’s lead to 4-0. They would shut down New Jersey for the rest of the game and ultimately prevail 4-0.
Final Thoughts
While the Ducks were out-chanced badly at 5v5 (34.5 xGF%), the story of this game was the dominant goaltending from John Gibson, and the Ducks special teams, which contributed to 2 powerplay goals and 1 shorthanded goal, along with allowing 0 Devils powerplay goals. This enabled Anaheim to cruise to a 4-0 victory against New Jersey, improving their record to 4-4-3 (11 points) on the season.
3 Stars
1. John Gibson (0 GA, 1.76 xGA)
2. Troy Terry (2G)
3. Ryan Getzlaf (1G, 2A)
Up Next
The Ducks continue their 4-game homestand on Friday night as they host the Arizona Coyotes, with the puck dropping at 7pm PT.
Note: all statistics included in this article are per Natural Stat Trick.