VIDEO: Shorthanded Ducks Lose To The Rangers

Photo: AP/Kathy Willens

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks squared off against the New York Rangers after having played the Islanders last night. The Ducks received more bad news today as Ryan Getzlaf would sit out again with the flu. Jakob Silfverberg would also not play due to feeling ill. Rickard Rakell suffered an upper-body injury in the Ducks win yesterday and was also unavailable.

According to Head Coach Dallas Eakins, the flu bug has been going through the locker room and the guys have been trying to fight through it. Ryan Miller got the got start in net against Henrik Lundqvist.

The New York Rangers got a power play in the opening minutes of the first period, but couldn’t convert despite having a few good chances. The Ducks’ first great scoring chance came when Nicolas Deslauriers had a breakaway, but he was denied by Lundqvist.

The Rangers would strike first as Filip Chytil would beat Miller with a backhand shot. Howden would score next as he got to a rebound and beat Miller, who was out of position, to give New York a 2-0 lead. The Ducks would answer as Sam Steel would tip in a shot to get Anaheim back within one.

A few moments later Max Comtois and Ryan Lindgren would mix it up and the teams would play 4-on-4. Josh Manson would make a bad turnover and Chirs Kreider was off to the races. He would break in on Miller alone and beat him with a backhand to give New York a 3-1 lead.

Podcast: Power Play Goals !?!!

The Ducks had an early power play chance in the second period, but couldn’t convert. Anaheim almost got within one goal when Cam Fowler took a point shot that was deflected and nearly rolled into the net. The Rangers would extend their lead when Chris Kreider would get his second of the game after he tipped a pass behind Miller.

A weird sequence of events then occurred. Brendan Lemieux tried to pick a fight with Gudbranson, then skated away. Gudbranson got a 10-minute misconduct, but the Ducks did get a power play. They could not convert and were down 4-1 at the end of the second period. Lemieux threw a punch at Carter Rowney after the period ended and the Ducks would start the third on the man advantage.

The Ducks had a power play to start the final frame, but the Rangers would get a shorthanded goal to make it a 5-1 lead. Nicolas Deslauriers did drop the gloves with Micheal Haley to try to give the Ducks some energy, but they weren’t able to mount a rally and lost.

Analysis:

The Ducks got behind early in this contest and could never recover. This wasn’t a surprise as the Ducks were playing with a severely depleted roster before this game started. Dallas Eakins only had 11 healthy forwards and had to put Korbinian Holzer in on the offense to start this game. The Ducks had power play chances in this contest, but when you are missing your big guns in Ryan Getzlaf, Derek Grant, Rickard Rakell, and Jakob Silfverberg it wasn’t a surprise the Ducks struggled. Hopefully, the Ducks can get rid of the flu bug during the holiday break.

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December 22nd, 2019