Wild @ Ducks RECAP: Marcus Foligno Delivers Last Second Win for Minnesota
The Anaheim Ducks returned to action to defend their perfect 1-0 record, hosting the Minnesota Wild. The Wild were a team that caught many by surprise last season and Kirill Kaprizov has been the story of their team since the beginning of last season.
John Gibson missed tonight’s game with a lower body injury and Troy Terry was out with a non-COVID illness, meaning the Ducks were without two of their impact players.
The Wild would ultimately win this game, but not without some good fight from the Ducks, and while the result isn’t what the Ducks were hoping for, there are certainly signs of improvement.
1st Period
The 1st period didn’t have a lot to report in terms of things that’ll appear on the scoresheet, but the Ducks seemed to be holding their own against a team that possesses a lot of speed and some high skill players. Even keeping up and feeling competitive seems to be a big step up from the meetings the Ducks had last season with Minnesota, as they were a temporary divisional rival due to the realignment.
Hampus Lindholm had an early penalty less than a minute into the game, but the Ducks were able to kill that off without too much difficulty, remaining perfect on the penalty kill early in the season. With just under a minute to go in the period, Marcus Foligno and Max Jones had a very spirited fight, with Foligno clearly upset about something, as he continued to try to throw punches at Jones well after the referees had separated them. The Ducks would come out of it with their first power play of the game, with Foligno receiving the additional two minutes for being extremely rude.
The final 45 seconds of the period expired, leaving the Ducks and Wild scoreless after one, with the Wild leading in shots on goal by a 15-10 count. All in all, I’m happy with how the Ducks looked in the opening 20, and they’ll carry another 1:07 of power play time into the second period.
2nd Period
The 2nd period started with a goal. Just like that. 17 seconds in. Power play stays unstoppable. Silfverberg. ooh. aah. You know how it goes. 1-0 Ducks!
A bad turnover by the 4th line led to a chance for Minnesota and Greg Pateryn took a slashing penalty, putting the Wild on their second power play of the evening. The penalty kill once again remained perfect, and a solid structure limited the chances to low danger shots that Stolarz could deal with easily.
The Ducks got another power play opportunity of their own but couldn’t convert, despite some good puck movement and a couple quality looks. The difference from last year to this year is honestly night and day watching this power play unit operate. Even when they don’t score, they spend quality time in the offensive zone, apply pressure, and make smart decisions with the puck.
The WIld tied the game with 2:25 remaining in the middle frame on a power play goal from Kevin Fiala. Great cross-ice puck movement and not a whole lot Stolarz could’ve done with that one. Tied 1-1.
At the end of the 2nd period, the game was tied 1-1 with shots still favoring Minnesota 29-21. If the Ducks want a positive result tonight, they’ll need to focus on shot suppression and making sure that they don’t give away possession if they don’t have to.
3rd Period
The 3rd period was more of the same story for a majority of the 20 minutes. The Wild controlled a lot of the play and continued to push the pace in the offensive zone, requiring more saves from Anthony Stolarz. The Ducks got their fourth power play opportunity of the night with under 10 minutes left in regulation but they were unable to retake the lead, despite a lot of high danger chances and one that Rickard Rakell for sure should’ve buried. Unfortunately, he just shanked the shot off the side of the net from a tight angle.
Marcus Foligno would deliver an absolute gut punch to the Ducks by giving the Minnesota Wild the lead with 7.2 seconds left and the Wild would hang on to win the game 2-1. A brutal way to lose a game that the Ducks fought so hard to stay in for 59+ minutes. 2-1 Final.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the game wasn’t terrible. The Wild are a very high skill team with a lot of speed and exactly the kind of team that used to blow the doors off the Anaheim Ducks. While there were certainly stretches where the Ducks found themselves hemmed in allowing a shooting gallery against Stolarz, they found ways to battle back and the power play continues to look dangerous. The penalty kill looks great also, so there are certainly positives to take away, but ultimately, a very crushing way to lose a game.
3 Stars
Anthony Stolarz
Jakob Silfverberg
Ryan Getzlaf
Up Next
The Ducks will be back in action on Monday night as they hit the road for the first time and will meet the Calgary Flames.