Ducks Come Up Short Against Canadiens

Photo: Canadian Press

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their homestand against the Montreal Canadiens. John Gibson was net in against Sam Montembeault. Montreal entered this contest having lost their last four games in a row. Anaheim was on a three game skid.

Recap

Montreal jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening period. Anaheim went shorthanded and was able to kill off the penalty, but Alex Newhook scored from the slot just seconds after the power play expired. Then Kaiden Guhle scored about 38 seconds later on a 2-on-1 to give Montreal the two goal advantage just over six minutes into the game.

Anaheim was shorthanded one more time later in the period, but they were able to kill it off. Montreal held a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period and a 15 to 12 shots on goal advantage.

The Ducks got a power play early in the second period as Juraj Slafkovsky was called for holding. Leo Carlsson found Mason McTavish in front of the net for a redirection and the Ducks were on the board.

The Canadiens would answer in just about a minute of play. Mike Matheson beat Gibson with a wrist shot to give Montreal a two goal lead once again. Gibson will probably have wanted that one back.

McTavish would score about four minutes later to make it a one goal game again. Frank Vatrano brought the puck down towards the right side of the net and two Montreal players followed him. Frank made a spin move and passed the puck back to McTavish in the slot, who beat Montembeault low for the score. The Ducks were down 3-2 heading to the third period.

Early in the final frame, Vatrano almost tied the game on a 2-on-1 rush. He one timed a pass high and Montembeault made a great glove save to rob Vatrano. Frank was eventually able to tie up the game halfway through the period. He brought the puck to the side of the net and beat Montembeault over the shoulder.

The teams continued to battle and it looked like this one might be headed to overtime. Instead, Newhook scored his second of the game with just over three minutes left after a rare turnover by Pavel Mintyukov. The Ducks pulled Gibson in the final minutes, but weren’t able to get the tying goal. The Canadiens appeared to score an empty net goal, but upon review the final horn sounded just before the puck hit the net. The Ducks lost this one 4-3.

Analysis:

Once again the Ducks found themselves in the familiar place of trailing to start the third period. This is the fifth game in a row where Anaheim and to try to come behind in the final frame. They rallied against Nashville, but haven’t been able to in the last four attempts. Anaheim was able to pull even after trailing 2-0 and 3-1, but just couldn’t quite complete the comeback.

Anaheim had a slow start in the first period, but then played better in the second and third periods. This seems to be par for the course for Anaheim. This season the opponents have scored first in 12 of Anaheim’s 19 games. The Ducks have also been trailing to start the third period 13 times in their 19 games. The Ducks have also scored more goals in the third period than the first and second periods combined.

The Ducks have had inconsistent play from period to period, but it’s also at the individual level as well. Troy Terry had a hat trick on November 1st against Arizona, but since then has zero goals in his last nine games. Alex Killorn came back from injury and has been close to scoring, but he has zero goals in nine games. The Ducks top three goal scorers are Vatrano(13), McTavish(10), and Carlsson(6). Those three have been the most consistent offensively this season, but the Ducks can’t keep relying on just them. More players need to get on the score sheet for the Ducks to start winning games again.

Team Notes/Stats:

Tristan Luneau recored his first NHL point, an assist in this contest.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Kings Friday at 12:30PM.

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November 23rd, 2023