Ducks Have No Luck In Vegas

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks visited the Vegas Golden Knights for their last game before the NHL holiday break. John Gibson was in net against Adin Hill. Drew Helleson drew in the line up for Pavel Mintyukov. Leo Carlsson was in the lineup despite being knocked off of the previous game agains Utah by a check into the boards.

Recap:

In the opening minutes of this contest, Brock McGinn make a check near the boards and came up hobbling. He could only skate on one leg and had to go straight to the locker room. He was only on ice for one shift and would not return.

The teams exchanged power play chances and neither team converted with the man advantage.

With just under three minutes to go, Tanner Laczynski clipped Gibson with a high stick in his mask. Lukáš Dostál came in as Gibson went to the locker room to have his eye looked at. He would not return in this contest.

Tanner Pearson would score shorthanded to put Vegas up 1-0. Alex Killorn made the costly turnover that led to the goal. The Ducks did not convert on the power play and trailed by one after one.

In the second period the Ducks went on the power play about eight minutes into the middle frame, but did not cash in. Anaheim nearly scored with just over six minutes left in the period. Alex Killorn tried to dump in a puck along the boards and it hit the linesman redirecting on net. Hill made the stop as he had to back track to the front of the net. He was out of position for the rebound, which Leo Carlsson got to, but fired high over the net.

Anaheim then got in penalty trouble in the final minutes taking two penalties. The Ducks were down 5-on-3 for 23 seconds, but were able to kill off both Vegas power plays. Anaheim still trailed by one after 40 minutes of play.

Mason McTavish scored in the opening minute of the third to tie the game up. Radko Gudas found McTavish in the slot on the rush for the score.

Vegas took the lead back halfway through the third when Tomáš Hertl scored on a backhand shot in front. The Ducks nearly answered a few minutes later on a 2-on-1 rush, but Brett Leason just missed the net after receiving a pass from Alex Killorn.

Keegan Kolesar then scored with about four minutes to go to make 3-1 Vegas. Ducks pulled Dostal for the extra attacker in the final minutes, but couldn’t get any closer. Anaheim dropped this one 3-1.

Analysis:

Just another game against Vegas resulting in another loss against Vegas. After two periods the Ducks had 14 shots on goal to 22 for the Golden Knights and trailed by just one goal. They were able to tie things up early in the third and outshot the Golden Knights 18 to 11 in the period, but then Vegas pulled away after that.

It terms of even strength play the Ducks posted a CF% of 50% and FF% of 44.71%. The Golden Knights had 18 high dangerous chances to 12 for the Ducks. The shot attempts ended up being 55 for both teams at even strength, but Vegas had the better quality scoring chances. The Ducks did play almost the entire game with just 11 forwards since McGinn was knocked out in opening minutes.

The power play continues to struggle for Anaheim. They had four power plays and did not score in this contest. They also gave up another shorthanded goal as a result of a costly turnover.  The penalty kill did come through killing off all three Vegas power plays, including 23 seconds of 5-on-3 power play late in the second period.

Some good news is McTavish is starting to produce again. He has two goals in his last five games and three points. He seems to be developing good chemistry with Cutter Gauthier. If the Ducks can get those two going along with Leo Carlsson, then they will be a more balanced team offensively.

Team News/Stats:

Ducks went 0-4-0 against the Golden Knights this season. Anaheim won’t play Vegas again until next year.

There was no update on McGinn (lower-body) or Gibson (upper-body) after the game.

What’s Next?

Ducks host the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday at 1 PM.

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December 23rd, 2024