Ducks vs Wild RECAP: Wildly Inefficient Offense Leads to a Split Series
After a 1-0 shutout home opener against the Minnesota Wild, the Anaheim Ducks entered tonight's game at 1-1-1 and 3 points on the season. Josh Manson is still dealing with an upper-body injury so Ducks fans got their first look at Andy Welinski as he skated next to Jacob Larsson. Ryan Miller also stepped in with Anthony Stolarz as backup giving John Gibson a full night off.
FIRST PERIOD
If it's not a goal against in the first minute of the game, it's definitely a penalty. Kevin Shattenkirk was sent off for holding, though it seemed like a soft call. This penalty kill was all chaos near the net, but the PK units settled in and killed it off without giving up a goal. Entering tonight, the Wild were 0-16. I guess things could be worse for the Ducks...maybe?
The Ducks got lucky with a powerplay for a delay of game penalty by Mathew Dumba. Less than a minute in, Ryan Hartman tipped a drop pass past Shattenkirk, and off he went. Miller stepped out toward Hartman and was able to stop the first shot, but the rebound fell right in front and Hartman put a perfect shot right between the pad and glove. Wild lead 1-0 while the Ducks are now 0 for 6 on the powerplay this season.
For most of this period, the Wild controlled play in all areas of the ice. The Ducks couldn't get any offense going because they couldn't gain control of the neutral zone where a lot of their passes went to die. One could tell that Minnesota came in knowing that they couldn’t have a repeat of the last game.
SECOND PERIOD
The Ducks had a much stronger start to the period as they were able to maintain control in the offensive zone for quite some time. The first real scoring opportunity came from the kid line of Comtois-Steel-Terry. Naturally, the next few minutes were spent in the defensive zone as the possession struggles carried on.
Kevin Shattenkirk's rough night continued with his second penalty of the game. The Wild would eventually score off a face-off in the defensive zone. The puck flew up into the air and off of Joel Eriksson Ek's glove (or chest, depending on who you ask) falling perfectly on the stick of Nick Bonino who scores. Wild up 2-0 early in the second.
After nearly 45 seconds in the offensive zone, the Ducks were able to get on the board. The Grant line got an offensive zone line change and continued to play keep-away from the Wild. Carter Rowney got an easy shot toward the net, but Kappo Kahkonen can't catch it with his glove. The puck fell for Nicolas Deslauriers and he poked it past the goaltender. The ducks finally get on the board and Deslauriers was the only goal scorer in Honda Center up to this point. Drink.
The Ducks quickly realized that scoring goals help with morale and momentum. After struggling to exit their zone, Deslauriers tips a puck past a Wild player on to the stick of Rowney. Rowney entered the zone with Cam Fowler rushing on the other side, sent a great pass over, and Fowler hits the net going against the grain and between the arm and body of Kahkonen. Ducks tied it up with a few minutes left in the period.
At this point, the Ducks are flying and sending everything toward the Wild net. Kahkonen did not look confident in the second half of this period and the Ducks tried to take advantage, but they would end the period tied 2-2. A much better period than the first.
THIRD PERIOD
Right off the faceoff, both teams exchanged quality chances, but it would be the Wild who add to the scoreboard. The Wild won a loose puck battle behind the net, sent it right in front to Eriksson Ek who picked the corner glove-side. Poor defensive coverage all around on this one and losing puck battles behind their net have cost the Ducks a few times already this season. Wild up 3-2.
Shattenkirk continued his campaign to prove all Ducks fans wrong about everything and took his third penalty of the game. After fumbling a one-timer from the blue line, Kirill Kaprizov went on a partial breakaway and Shattenkirk went off for slashing. Shattenkirk is now the penalty minute leader for the Ducks, which is not the stat we were hoping he would lead the team in. Nothing came of the powerplay other than losing precious time off the game clock.
The last 10 minutes of the game consisted of the Wild pouncing on any Duck player with the puck leading to a 7 minute stretch without an official shot on goal. Even with the empty net and some sustained pressure for the final minute, the Ducks couldn't find the game-tying goal and ultimately fall to the Minnesota Wild with a final score of 3-2.
QUICK OBSERVATIONS
GOOD: Ryan Miller at age 40 has still got it. He did the best he could to give the Ducks a chance to win and that's all you can ask for.
BAD: Teams can't win with failed defensive zone coverages and a lack of goals. Goalies can steal games here and there, but that can't be the game plan.
GOOD: The Comtois - Steel - Terry line has been consistently better than the other lines. As the more games pass, the more likely it is that this line is here to stay and isn't necessarily a fluke. The other lines need to get it going if this team wants to even put up a fight in most games.
BAD: Anaheim's first line of Heinen - Henrique - Silfverberg is invisible. They haven't been able to get much traction in the early season and there are no signs that this will change any time soon.
GOOD: The second period was the best period of hockey we've seen so far with the offense generating a 74.21% xGF. There's potential there, but being able to sustain a similar effort over 60 minutes is the issue.
BAD: The Wild are the team the Ducks are competing against for the final spot in the postseason. Ducks fans have to be worried now that we've seen a head-to-head against them, even against their backup goalie who looked shaky for most of the game.
GOOD: Cam Fowler jumping in on the rush and scoring on a beautiful feed from Rowney. Fowler added some great offense last season and the Ducks will need him to do the same this time around.
BAD: Kevin Shattenkirk had his first bad game in a Ducks jersey. It's just one game and a couple of soft penalty calls, but the team really needed him and it just wasn't his night.
While the Ducks managed to get a couple of points against the Wild, the overall play was underwhelming. Normally, fighting back after being down by a goal or two shows resilience, but the Ducks are relying on these early deficits as wake-up calls. Similar struggles carried over from the opening series and continue to be a major concern moving forward outside of the second period of this game. Can you win without goals? Can you score goals without controlling the puck? This shortened season is going to be a long one if things don't shift soon.
The Ducks now have a two-game stint against a Stanley Cup favorite the Colorado Avalanche. At least we'll get to see some top-tier talent in that game, though potentially at the expense of the Ducks. See you on Friday at 7 PM!