Ducks Doubled Up By Blues

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks faced the St. Louis Blues for their last contest of the road trip. Lukas Dostal was in net against Joel Hofer.

Leo Carlsson returned to the lineup after being out for eight games with a concussion. Max Jones also joined the team on the trip and returned to the lineup. The Ducks were without Radko Gudas (upper-body) and Mason McTavish (lower-body).

Recap

The Ducks got into penalty trouble early in the first period, but were able to kill off all three power plays the Blues had. Troy Terry got Anaheim on the board with just over six minutes left to go in the period. Pavel Mintyukov took a shot at the side of the net and Terry put the rebound home for the score. The Ducks led 1-0 after the first period.

In the middle frame, the Ducks had a couple of power plays, but they couldn’t convert. Kevin Hayes scored on a rebound from a Torey Krug shot tying the game with about five minutes to go in the period. The teams remained tied at one after two periods.

In the third period, the Ducks once again got into penalty trouble taking three penalties in the span of about eight minutes. The Blues took advantage and scored on all three of them. Robert Thomas scored twice and Jake Neighbours scored once to make it a 4-1 game in favor of St. Louis.

In the final minutes the Ducks pulled Dostal for the extra attacker and Terry scored his second of the game. Alex Killorn found him at the left face-off circle and he one timed a pass for his second goal of the game. But it was too little too late and the Ducks dropped this one 4-2.

Analysis:

Getting Carlsson back immediately paid dividends as Terry scored to get the Ducks on the board first. The interesting part is Head Coach Greg Cronin split them up for most of the game after the first period. Maybe he was trying to spread the scoring out between multiple lines.

This was another contest where the Ducks were still in the game after two periods of play. But discipline and special teams did them in again. The Ducks were shorthanded six times in this contest. They managed to kill off the first three penalties in the first, but then gave up goals on three consecutive Blues power plays in the third.

The good news is Anaheim got Carlsson and Jones back, but now it looks like Gudas is going to be out for an extended about of time. And McTavish can’t seem to get 100% healthy. It’s going to continue to be an extremely bumpy road for the last few weeks of the season for Anaheim, prepare accordingly.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Wild on Tuesday at 7 PM.

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March 18th, 2024