VIDEO: Ducks Fall Short In Pittsburgh

Photo: AP

By Aaron Francis

The Ducks played the first game of a back-to-back in Pittsburgh where they faced-off against the Penguins. Coming into the game Anaheim had allowed just one goal in each of their first three contests to start the season. Pittsburgh native John Gibson started in his fourth straight game to open the season and Matt Murray played in net for the Penguins.

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The early goings of the first period felt much like the previous game against the Red Wings. A feeling out process with few offensive chances for both teams. The Ducks killed an early penalty and the most notable event of the period was a fight that broke out between Korbinian Holzer and Teddy Blueger after Holzer laid a big hit on one of the Penguins skaters. Blueger was called for instigating the fight resulting in a power play for Anaheim that came up empty. Rickard Rakell had an opportunity with the extra man that was stopped by Matt Murray. With one minute remaining, Max Jones would take a penalty that led to a great one-time shot from Justin Schultz that John Gibson was able to keep out of the net. Shots were 11-8 Pittsburgh.

The Ducks were able to kill the remaining penalty from the first period but would find themselves back in the penalty box often in the second period. Josh Manson was called for a high-stick that put Anaheim back on the penalty kill. Not long into the power play Pittsburgh would break the scoreless tie as a point-shot from Kris Letang was deflected in front of Gibson by Sidney Crosby, 1-0 Penguins. The Ducks didn’t take long to respond however as less than a minute later Nick Ritchie would feed the puck to Ondrej Kase down low who ripped it past Murray to tie the game at 1-1. Anaheim would take several penalties this period leading to a minute long 5-on-3 sequence that they managed to kill. Late in the period as if mirroring the first period they would take a penalty with less than two minutes on the clock. In total, the Ducks took four penalties during the second period alone. Shots were 21-20 Pittsburgh at the end of the period.

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Anaheim would attempt to mount a comeback after giving up the go-ahead goal in the third period, but would ultimately run out of time. They started strong by managing to kill off the carry-over penalty from the second period. The Penguins were able to continue the momentum they had built with the man advantage and drove the play early leading to their second goal of the game scored by Jake Guentzel, 2-1 Penguins. The Ducks managed to drive a majority of the play going forward and were rewarded with a power-play chance with less than half the period remaining. They failed to capitalize on the man advantage however and were unable to get the chances they needed to beat Murray. The Ducks tried several times in the late stages to pull John Gibson and get set up in the Pittsburgh zone to no avail. Multiple late icings forced Gibson back into the Ducks net and they couldn’t tie the score back up, losing the game 2-1. Final shots were 32-28 Anaheim.

Analysis:

Anaheim was dealt their first loss in the young season after having a strong first few games. This was a case of self-defeat in many respects as the Ducks, who had been very responsible with penalties thus far, ended up in the penalty box far too often. This will be a great test for the Ducks new coach Dallas Eakins as he will need to tighten up the locker room going forward, ensuring that they play a cleaner game.

A bright spot, however, was the Anaheim penalty kill that managed to kill 5 of 6 off tonight. Derek Grant, in particular, did a fantastic job in the defensive zone winning puck battles and clearing the zone, save for the delay of game call in the second. The Ducks need to put less strain on the penalty kill unit moving forward in order for the team to succeed.

Game Stats / Notes:

John Gibson stopped 26 of 28 shots finishing with a save percentage of .929 in the loss.

Anaheim is still searching for its first power-play goal of the season after failing to convert on the two chances they had this game.

What’s Next?

The Ducks will play the second half of the back-to-back schedule when they take on the Blue Jackets in Columbus Friday 10/11 at 4 pm PST.

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October 10th, 2019