VIDEO: Ducks Downed 4-1 By Florida

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks returned home to face the Florida Panthers to start a six-game homestand. John Gibson was in net against Sergei Bobrovsky.

In the opening period, Florida’s Mike Hoffman beat John Gibson on the stick side which appeared to give the Panthers the early 1-0 lead. The Ducks challenged the play for being offside and won so the game remained scoreless. Anaheim would end up officially scoring first when Max Jones beat Bobrovsky, who was partially screened by Rickard Rakell.

Things looked good for Anaheim until the dying seconds of the first period. Florida would make one last rush up the ice after a turnover and Aleksander Barkov would get a tap-in goal with 2.2 seconds left in the period.

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Anaheim generated plenty of chances in the middle frame, but it would be Florida would score again to take a 2-1 lead. Vincent Trocheck would hit the puck out of mid-air after an odd bounce off the boards. He appeared to hit the puck near the height of the crossbar, but the goal stood as it wasn’t challenged. Florida would get another bounce off the boards behind the Anaheim net and this time it would be Aleksi Saarela who scored to make it a 3-1 Florida lead.

The Ducks tried to rally in the third period but to no avail. With about three minutes to go, they pulled Gibson for the extra attacker and Florida scored an empty-net goal. Panthers won 4-1.

Analysis:

If someone looked at just the score they might think the Ducks played poorly, but that’s not the case. Despite losing some momentum at the end of the first period, the Ducks created several quality scoring chances but just couldn’t get another puck past Bobrovsky. Two fortunate bounces for Florida were the difference in this game as the Panthers. Florida scored twice off two end board bounces. If those goals didn’t happen, then the third period would have likely started with a 1-1 score.

Team News:

Cam Fowler did not play due to a lower-body injury.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Colorado Avalanche at 7PM.

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February 20th, 2020