Ducks Take Down The Senators

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their road trip against the Ottawa Senators, who were on a four game winning streak. John Gibson was in net against Joonas Korpisalo.

Recap

Ducks killed an early penalty as Ross Johnston was called for delay of game after sending the puck over the glass. Anaheim then opened the scoring about a minute later. Troy Terry took a shot that was blocked, but Pavel Mintyukov got to the rebound quickly and put it past Korpisalo. The Ducks killed another penalty later in the period and held a 1-0 advantage at the conclusion of the opening frame.

In the second period, Ilya Lyubushkin accidentally collided with Gibson sending them both to the ice. Both were shaken up for a minute, but stayed in the game.

Later in the period the Ducks went on the power play as Joshua Norris was called for tripping. Frank Vatrano scored on a one-timer from the right circle to make it 2-0 Anaheim.

With about a minute to go in the period, the Ducks scored again when Korpisalo turned over the puck. He got the puck behind the net and threw in to the boards. Mason McTavish ended up with the puck and then beat Korpisalo with a twist shot over the shoulder. Anaheim led 3-0 after two periods of play.

Lukas Dostal came in to start the third period and finish the contest. McTavish scored his second of the game about two minutes into the final frame. Terry brought the puck from behind the net and found McTavish at the opposite post for an easy tap in score.

Ottawa got on the board about two minutes later as Claude Giroux would beat Dostal with a wrist shot to make it a 5-1 game.

The Ducks would extend their lead back to four goals on the power play later in the period. Ryan Strome passed the puck to Cam Fowler, who one-timed a point shot past Korpisalo.

Anaheim was called for a couple of penalties in the final minutes of the game, but they were able to kill both penalties off. The Ducks went on to win 5-1.

Analysis:

The Ducks redeemed themselves after the embarrassing loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday night. Head Coach Greg Cronin did a “conditioning practice” or bag skate on Wednesday and the team responded accordingly. Anaheim was able to get the early lead in the first period and two quick goals at the end of the second set them up to finish off Ottawa in the third.

Even though the Ducks were up 3-0 to start the third, the Senators held a slight puck possession advantage through two periods and applied tons of pressure in the third period. Ottawa posted a 70 CF% and 64 FF% putting up 19 shots on goal in 21 attempts in the final 20 minutes. The Senators tried to fight back, but being down 4-0 early in the final frame proved to be too much.

Anaheim played much better on special teams in this one. The Ducks scored on both of their power play opportunities. They also kept the Senators off the board in their four power play chances. The Ducks also won the face-off battles winning 54.2% of the draws. The team also blocked 15 shots. A much better effort all the way around for Anaheim.

Team Notes/Stats:

Vatrano leads the Ducks in scoring with 23 goals. He now has 41 points, tying his career high from last season.

Mintyukov has recorded 20 points in 42 NHL games. The only Ducks defensemen to do so in fewer games is Fowler (38 games).

Gibson left the game with an upper-body injury at the end of the second period and did not return. Lyubushkin ran into him on accident and then Gibson collided with an Ottawa player later in the middle frame. He was able to finish the second period, so he may have been taken out of the game as a precaution, especially with the Ducks up 3-0.

What’s Next?

The Ducks travel to Toronto to play the Maple Leafs on Saturday at 4 PM.

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February 16th, 2024