Ducks Get Behind Early and Lose 5-1

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their road trip in Ottawa against the Senators. John Gibson got the start against Linus Ullmark. Leo Carlsson returned to the game after being out with an upper-body injury. Pavel Mintyukov drew back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past three games. Jackson LaCombe was a healthy scratch.

Recap

Ottawa scored just under three minutes into this one. Noah Gregor scored in close to make it 1-0. The Ducks had a power play chance a few minutes later, but couldn’t convert. Anaheim then got called for back-to-back penalties within five seconds. The Drake Batherson scored on the power play to make it 2-0.

The Ducks got called for another penalty with just under five minutes to go in the period and Batherson scored again on the power play. He made a centering pass attempt that went off Cam Fowler‘s skate and into the back of the Anaheim net. Ottawa led 3-0 at the end of the first period.

In the second period, Batherson would score again this time at even strength to make it 4-0. Batherson’s shot was redirected in off Fowler’s stick.

Ottawa made it a 5-0 game when Brady Tkachuk redirected a pass form Batherson past Gibson with about 11 minutes left in the game.

Cutter Gauthier got the Ducks on the board with about just about seven minutes to go. He tipped a Mason McTavish shot for score.

With about five minutes to go, Radko Gudas and Travis Hamonic briefly fought behind the Ottawa net. Both got five for fighting.

The Ducks also got a power play from the scrum, but they couldn’t cash in on the man advantage. Anaheim ended up dropping this one 5-1.

Analysis

The Ducks got off to a terrible start and could never recover in this one. They gave up a goal in the opening minutes of the game. They were then shorthanded 5-on-3 halfway through the opening period and Ottawa scored, despite it being a questionable goal. The Senators then added another power play goal in the final minutes of the period to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Ottawa would add two more and really put the game out of reach. Cutter Gauthier got the lone goal for the Ducks to ruin Ullmark’s shutout bid.

Special teams was a big factor in this contest. The Senators converted on three of their five power plays. The Ducks also had five power plays, but couldn’t convert on any of them. Anaheim was outscored 3-0 during special teams play. They were outscored 2-1 during even strength play. The Ducks put up 37 shot attempts to 49 for the Senators. The Ducks posted a 43.02% CF% and 45.76% FF% during even strength play.

Cam Fowler had a rough game tonight deflecting not one, but two pucks into the Anaheim net. Since returning from injury he has two assists and a -6 on ice rating in his last four games.

The most consistent offensive line for Anaheim lately has been late of Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome, and Troy Terry. They didn’t score tonight, but they had 10 combined shots on goal and created some chances. Gauthier had four shots on goal and one score. Brett Leason had five shots on goal. Maybe the two should be put on a line together. Not much is working offensively lately outside of the Vatrano-Strome-Terry line.

What’s Next?

The Ducks play again in Toronto tomorrow at 4 PM.

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December 11th, 2024