VIDEO: Ducks Halt The Avalanche

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks came into Colorado already dropping their first two games of the road trip in Nashville and Dallas. The Ducks were on a three-game losing skid as they looked to take on the red hot Avalanche. Ryan Miller was in net against Pavel Francouz. With Josh Manson being out due to his injury, Cam Fowler was selected as an Alternate Captain for the night.

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The Ducks would jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the period. Rickard Rakell would take the puck down toward the right-hand corner of the Colorado zone and then make a pass to Adam Henrique in the slot, who would beat Francouz on his glove side.

Anaheim would add another score when Derek Grant would find Carter Rowney at the front of the Colorado net. Rowney was able to tip Grant’s pass behind Francouz to give the Ducks a two-goal advantage.

The teams exchanged power play chances that overlapped for a few seconds, but there was no scoring by either team. Anaheim also had a power play at the end of the period that would carry over to the second period. Ducks led 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes.

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Early in the second period, the Ducks were called for a delay of game penalty. Rowney had a breakaway chance and nearly scored, but Francouz got just enough of the shot to deflect it wide. Cam Fowler would then get called for a penalty and the Avalanche would score with the man advantage. Miller would get a piece of Joonas Donskoi‘s shot, but it would deflect off of him and back into the net.

The Ducks would then go on the power play and Ryan Getzlaf would extend the lead back to two goals. The captain would skate in from the point and take a shot that deflected off Adam Graves stick and past Francouz. The Ducks held a 3-1 advantage going into the third.

To start the third, the Ducks would take another penalty and Nathan MacKinnon would score to bring the Avalanche back within two goals. The Ducks would answer right back as Brendan Guhle took a shot that was deflected in front by Nick Ritchie. The puck sat in the crease and Max Comtois was able to backhand it into the net for the score. Colorado would pull their goalie in the final minutes, but Jakob Silfverberg would get an empty netter and the Ducks would go on to win 5-2.

Analysis:

The Ducks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and didn’t look back in this contest. Miller was very sharp stopping a breakaway chance by Cale Makar early in the game. Miller made several other timely saves throughout the contest to help Anaheim end their losing streak. The Ducks did take too many penalties in this game, giving Colorado six chances which led to both of their goals. Outside of that, the Ducks played a decent game especially at even strength as they took advantage of their opportunities while the Avalanche couldn’t.

Team Stats/News:

Erik Gudbranson skated over 22 minutes in this contest. He had two shots, two hits, and had a +2 on-ice rating.

Henrique and Silfverberg lead the team with six goals.

Comtois has scored in back-to-back games.

Miller remains undefeated this season.

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October 27th, 2019