VIDEO: Ducks Come Up Empty In Chicago

Photo: Chicago Tribune

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks took on the Chicago Blackhawks in the second of back-to-back games. Cam Fowler and Anthony Stolarz tested positive for COVID just prior to puck drop. Sonny Milano did not play as he was still feeling the effects from an elbow he received the night before.

Brendan Guhle and Vinni Lettieri would draw in and Lukas Dostal would get the start in net. Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for Chicago.

Recap

The teams fought to a scoreless tie in the opening frame. Both teams had a power play chance and couldn’t convert. Hampus Lindholm had a quality chance with Fleury down, but he missed the net. Patrick Kane had a partial breakaway, which he too missed wide. Jonathan Toews nearly scored at the end of the period, but Dostal made the save despite already being down.

Early in the second period, Erik Gustafsson was called for a penalty and the Ducks nearly scored on the power play. A shot beat Fleury and almost went in, but Jakub Galvas stopped the puck right on the goal line.

Gustafasson would then get out of the box pick up a loose puck and find Hagel in the slot, who scored to make it 1-0 Chicago.

Hagel and Lukas Reichel had a 2-on-1 late in the period and Dostal make a spectacular save to keep it a one goal game after two periods.

The Ducks had a shorthanded chance early in the third, but couldn’t convert. The Blackhawks came back on the next sequence and Patrick Kane scored to make it 2-0.

Anaheim pulled the goalie with about four minutes to go, but Chicago scored an empty net goal to win 3-0.

Analysis (Stats by Natural Stat Trick):

Another difficult night for the Ducks, who were already down without Troy Terry and John Gibson due to the COVID protocol. There were two momentum shifts in this game and they both happened to result in goals for Chicago. In the second period, the Ducks nearly scored on the power play, but the Hawks scored right after the penalty was killed. Anaheim almost scored shorthanded in the third period, but instead Chicago came back down the ice to score.

In terms of 5-on-5 play, the Ducks put up 31 shots on goal in 51 attempts. The Blackhawks recorded 29 shots in 48 attempts. The Ducks held a slight edge in puck possession with a 51.52 CF% and 55.56 FF%.

Anaheim has had a difficult time scoring goals and converting on the power play recently, but they also been without several players. They will be off until Wednesday so hopefully they can get some players out of the protocol and can regroup.

Team Notes/Stats:

Dostal stopped 33 of 35 shots and made several quality saves despite the loss.

The Ducks are now 2-6-2 in their last 10 games.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Avalanche on Wednesday at 7 PM.

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January 15th, 2022