VIDEO: Ducks Downed By Canes

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Carolina Hurricanes closing out their two-game season series. John Gibson was in net against Petr Mrazek.

First Period

The Ducks came out strong to begin the game and had a couple of solid chances early. Anaheim would go shorthanded in the middle of the period as Ryan Kesler was called for holding the stick. While down a man, Jakob Silfverberg would get a breakaway and hit the post. The puck would come out to the point and Silfverberg would get a piece of the shot as it beat Mzarek. The teams would trade power plays, but neither team could convert. Anaheim led 1-0 at the intermission.

Second Period

To start the period, Clark Bishop would drive the net and crash into Gibson. It appeared like a harmless play at first, but the puck did cross the line. The play was reviewed and it was determined the puck crossed the goal line prior to it being knocked out of position. The Ducks then challenged the play for goalie interference, but the referees deemed there was no interference and the goal stood. The Ducks had a couple of power play chances in the middle frame, but couldn’t cash in on either one. The teams headed to the third tied at one.

Third Period

Carolina scored twice to begin this period and took a 3-1 lead. First Brett Pesce hit a bouncing puck, which beat Gibson low and just inside of the post. About a minute later Justin Williams would get to lose puck and bank it in off Gibson. Gibson had made the initial save but then lost the puck in his skates. The Ducks would get a 5-on-3 power play in this period for about one minute and 16 seconds, but they couldn’t convert. Anaheim would pull their goalie in the final minutes and Carolina would score again to go on and win 4-1.

Analysis

The Ducks played a decent opening period building a 1-0 lead. Carolina got a goal in the second period and continued to build momentum throughout the game. The Ducks took five penalties, which they were able to kill off. But when Anaheim had their chances they couldn’t get much going. They had a golden opportunity with the 5-on-3 power play for over a minute. Carlyle did jumble some of the lines in the second period to create more offense, but the Ducks weren’t able to get much going. The Ducks weren’t able to execute much in this contest overall and will look to regroup on Sunday against New Jersey.

Game Notes/Stats:

Silfverberg scored his 100th regular season career goal.

Injury Updates

Rickard Rakell suffered an ankle injury in the win over Chicago and would not play in this game. He is listed as day-to-day.

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December 8th, 2018