Hurricanes @ Ducks RECAP: Hurricanes Surge to Late Win to End Ducks Win Streak
The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night with a chance to extend their winning streak to nine games, something I definitely never expected to be typing this season. The Hurricanes posed the largest threat to the winning streak that the Ducks had seen yet and are one of the Cup favorites out of the Eastern Conference.
All any Ducks fan could’ve really asked of the team from this game was to at least be competitive and try to keep up with one of the fastest teams in the NHL. The result was exactly that, despite the loss, with some additional bonuses of the Ducks controlling a lot of the shot counts and scoring chances for solid stretches in the game. John Gibson needed to stand tall to keep the Ducks in it at times, but that was to be expected against a team with this caliber of fire power.
1st Period
The first period saw a very solid effort from the Ducks, in a game against a team that many expect to make a deep playoff run. The Canes are known for their speed and chance creation, so the Ducks defense knew they were going to have their hands full and would likely need John Gibson to be stellar tonight.
An unfortunate turnover at the blue line allowed a cross ice pass to find Ethan Bear all alone on John Gibson’s left, and he would not miss the opportunity to give Carolina the lead just 4:44 into the contest. 1-0 Canes.
The Ducks controlled an impressive majority of puck possession, shots on goal, and scoring chances in the first period, and it looked as though they might not be able to find a way through the defense and Frederik Andersen when they finally broke through. Any guesses as to who it was?
If you immediately thought “Well, #TroyTerryIsVeryGood so maybe it was him”, you would absolutely be correct. He made a fantastic pass on a 2-on-1 rush to Adam Henrique, who was foiled by Andersen but got another touch back over to Terry, who slid the puck into the open cage to tie the game. 1-1 tie!
After the opening 20 minutes, the score was tied at one with the Ducks leading in shots on goal by a count of 17-11. All in all, a great opening frame for Anaheim and they definitely don’t look too overwhelmed by Carolina at this stage of the game.
2nd Period
The 2nd period was the period that contained the expected stretches of time in tonight’s contest where John Gibson would need to stand on his head to keep the Ducks in it. There were plenty of special teams to go around in this period, but no goals.
The Ducks ended the period 0-for-2 on power play opportunities and the Hurricanes ended up 0-for-1, but had a brief 4-on-3 advantage that they couldn’t convert on. Both goaltenders made very strong saves and the Ducks continued to hang in there against a very good team.
End of the 2nd period saw the score remaining at 1-1 with shots on goal still favoring Anaheim, but by a smaller margin now at a total count of 26-23. The Canes led the period 12-9 in that department.
3rd Period
The Ducks didn’t have an ideal start to the 3rd period, as the Hurricanes were awarded with a penalty shot less than two minutes into the period. Luckily, John Gibson is the best goalie in the world and just so happens to play for the Anaheim Ducks, so the shot was saved and Seth Jarvis was unable to give Carolina a lead with his first career penalty shot attempt.
Trevor Zegras very nearly gave the Ducks the lead with just under eleven minutes to go in regulation but his shot narrowly missed the top corner after a high skill move at the blue line left the Hurricanes defense scrambling, and instead, it was the Hurricanes who would collect and rush down the ice and tap in a loose rebound to get the lead with 10:27 remaining. 2-1 Canes.
The Ducks made their push to try to find an equalizer and were able to create a few high danger opportunities, particularly through Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, which is very encouraging to see, but they were unable to get anything past Andersen. When they get their feet moving through the neutral zone, opposing teams really seem to struggle to find ways to prevent them from blowing by and finding a quality shot on goal.
The Hurricanes missed a few empty net opportunities and the Ducks were unable to tie the game up, falling 2-1. A valiant effort, but just fell short.
Final Thoughts
What an effort by Anaheim and this team continues to just be so fun to watch. Looking at the schedule and seeing two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams coming to Anaheim in consecutive games has to feel like a tall task for any team in the league, let alone one that publicly claimed that they were rebuilding prior to the season, but here we are. The Ducks may have only won one of the two contests but they definitely put the league on notice that there is not a team that they can not keep up with and play a competitive hockey game against.
Three Stars
John Gibson
Troy Terry
Cam Fowler
Up Next
The Ducks have the weekend off and won’t return to action until Monday night, when they open up a quick two-game road trip beginning with the Nashville Predators.