DUCKS VS GOLDEN KNIGHTS RECAP: One Point is Just Not Enough
FIRST PERIOD
The first ten minutes of this one started out similarly to the last game. The ducks had multiple in zone breakdowns, multiple turnovers, and multiple failed break out passes. Luckily (Duckily?) for the Ducks, they have John Gibson in between the pipes. Gibby was relied upon early and he delivered.
As the period went on, the Ducks found their feet a bit. A solid shift by the 4th line followed up by some physical play from the Captain helped spark a bit of Ducks offensive pressure to finish off the period.
The new “Kid Line” continued to impress as Terry, Steel, and Comtois generated some dangerous scoring opportunities as well as some sustained possession. One would think they should be playing a bit more often?
The Ducks ended this period on the powerplay that would continue on into the start of the second period. 0-0 after one.
SECOND PERIOD
The second looked bleak at the beginning. The Ducks’ powerplay woes have continued as they failed to convert on their first PP attempt and then not only failed but gave up two breakaway opportunities to the Knights. Simply put, Gibson bailed the boys out.
As the second period continued, the Ducks began to level things out. Some solid shifts from the kid line along with the Getzlaf, Heinen, and Lundestrom line led to some good offensive zone time and chances.
At 12:15 to go in the period, Jacob Larsson led a 2 on 1 with Max Comtois. After fumbling the puck a bit while entering the zone, Larsson did a beautiful job looking off the defender and then slung the puck over to Comtois who was cutting to the far post. Comtois buried the puck for his third goal in two games. 1-0 Ducks.
Although the shots favored the Knights, the Ducks held their own and really leveled out play. Onto the third.
THIRD PERIOD AND OT
The Ducks did a decent job in the third of slowing down the Golden Knights and clogging up the neutral zone. The Ducks did not do anything of note in the third and neither did the Knights until with the goalie pulled the Golden Knights tied up the game with 1:22 remaining. Once the Golden Knights had the extra man they were able to exploit holes that they couldn’t in the third at 5v5. Given the Ducks’ lack of success in OT in recent seasons, you sort of had a feeling this was not going to end favorably for them.
Sure enough, just seven seconds into OT, Mark Stone was able to muscle away possession of the puck from Sam Steel off the face-off. He then rushed up the ice for a 2 on 1 with Max Pacioretty against Cam Fowler. Fowler neither eliminated the pass nor took away Stone’s shot which led to Stone feeding a beauty of a pass to Pacioretty who slapped home the one-timer. Fowler made an effort to stop the pass but gave one of the best players in the league a bit of an opening to make a great play and he did.
Ducks lose but grab their first point of the season in the process.
QUICK STATS
Shots on Goal – ANA: 22 VGK: 33
5v5 CF% – ANA: 43.56% VGK: 56.44%
5v5 xGF – ANA: 1.41 VGK: 1.96
5v5 xGA – ANA: 1.96 VGK: 1.41
**All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com
3 STARS
1) John Gibson
2) Mark Stone
3) Max Comtois
NEXT UP
The Ducks will play the Minnesota Wild at 7PM PST at the Ponda Center on Monday 1/18