Ducks v Wild RECAP: It is not #MillerTime any longer
Introduction
The Ducks arrived wearing original yellow and green District 5 Mighty Ducks Jerseys for today’s game in the jersey’s native Minnesota. Unfortunately, this Ducks team is still to find its Gordon Bombay having won only 4 of its last 20 games with a .364 points percentage on the season. This afternoon was no better, another puck drop and another loss for the Anaheim Ducks.
First Period
The opening period had a little bit of everything: goals, fights, and a spin-o-rama shot from Getzlaf. Both teams traded chances throughout the period with 11 shots apiece.
The Minnesota Wild opened the scoring 7 minutes into the game when defenseman Jared Spurgeon deflected a feed from fellow blueliner Ryan Suter over the shoulder of Ryan Miller and into the top right-hand corner of the net.
The Anaheim Ducks responded a mere 24 seconds later to equalise the game. Derek Grant’s attempt at passing to Max Jones in the slot deflected off the skate of Cam Talbot and into the back of the net.
Shortly after the equalizer, Jones squared off with Joseph Camarossa following a cross-check in front of the benches. Both players were issued with fighting majors.
Midway through the period Troy Terry got caught with his head down at the center red and was flattened by Carson Soucy. Getzlaf promptly stood up to defend Terry and dropped the gloves with Soucy. Both players traded blows for the game’s second fight. Soucy received a 5 minute fighting major but Getzlaf received a 5-minute fighting major, a 2-minute instigating penalty, and a 10-minute misconduct penalty, leaving the Ducks on the penalty kill. Surprisingly, given their record this season, the Ducks killed off this penalty.
Hakanpaa was called for interference with a minute to go in the first period. The Wild scored 48 seconds into the penalty with another Spurgeon deflection on a Suter feed, this time going five-hole on Ryan Miller. This assist marked Suter’s 600th career point in the NHL.
Second Period
The Ducks opened scoring 22 seconds into the second period: Max Comtois with tip-in on a feed from Isac Lundestrom.
The tied game lasted 6 and half minutes before the Wild took the lead on a goal that Ryan Miller will want back. Nick Bjugstad dumped a puck on goal from his own zone in an attempt to get a line change. Miller split the shot into the slot leaving Nico Sturm open to tip the puck into the net to make it a 3-2 game.
The teams traded chances for most the rest of the period. Both netminders made a number of key saves: Miller on a breakaway from Bjugstad and Talbot on a nice Rakell shot from the slot. On returning to the game following his prolonged penalty absence Getzlaf struck the post on an attempt to equalise the game.
Third Period
Compared to the rest of the game, the third period was relatively quiet in terms of goals and penalty. The most exciting moment in the period the third came in the form of a slapshot from Nicolas Deslauriers initially spilt by Talbot on his goal line. Talbot recovered with a sprawling reach behind him before the puck could be tipped in by a Ducks forward.
The Ducks pulled Miller for the final few minutes of the game in search of an equalizer. The Ducks managed a couple of decent scoring attempts (including a shot off the post by Comtois and an impressive snapshot from Zegras following a face-off win by Getzlaf with 1 second left in the game) but were unable to find the elusive equalizer.
The Ducks lose this one 3-2.
The Good
The Ducks played a decent game with a 58.62 CF%, 56.25% SCF% and 50% HDCF%.
Jamie Drysdale continues to impress with very clean zone entries and great defensive zone positioning. He was particularly impressive holding the offensive zone with Miller pulled in the final minutes of the game.
The Ducks weren’t blown out in either game of this series which is an improvement compared to recent losses 5-1 (Coyotes), 8-4 (Avalanche), 6-0 (Sharks) and 5-1 (Kings).
The Bad
The Ducks had 4 players added to the NHL Covid Protocol on Tuesday: Jacob Larsson, Danton Heinen, Ben Hutton and Anthony Stolarz.
Ryan Miller gave up a very poor game winning goal. His .880 save % coming into this game is one of the worst in the NHL and tonight wasn’t significantly better, scraping a .900 save %.
The Ugly
Discussing the Ducks roster tonight, the Fox Sports Minnesota commentator noted “the Ducks are healthy tonight so they don’t have to dress 7 defensemen”, clearly highlighting how bonkers it was for Dallas Eakins to dress 11 forwards when not forced to do so by injury.
The Anaheim Ducks continue their road trip on Friday at 5pm PDT as they take on the Blues in St Louis.