Ducks Rally Falls Short Against The Blues

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the St. Louis Blues to start the homestand. Lukas Dostal was in net against Jordan Binnington. Cam Fowler returned to Honda Center for the first time since being traded and received a warm welcome.

Recap:

The Blues scored first in the opening minutes of this contest. Alexey Toropchenko took a wrist shot from the left circle that went between Dostal’s arm and body trickling in the net.

St. Louis was penalized twice in the opening period for delay of game. Anaheim didn’t convert on the first power play, but they did come through on the second man advantage. Jackson LaCombe took a point shot that beat Binnington. The goal was originally give to LaCombe, but then was credited to Sam Colangelo as he directed the shot on the way to the net. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period.

The Blues scored halfway through the second period to make it a 2-1 lead. Radko Gudas fumbled the puck away to Jordan Kyrou, who passed the puck to Dylan Holloway and eventually Brayden Schenn scored in close. St Louis led 21 after two periods.

St. Louis extended their lead to 3-1 early in the third period. Zachary Bolduc scored on a breakaway.

With about three minutes to go Frank Vatrano scored on a one-timer from the left circle to pull Anaheim within one.

The Ducks pulled Dostal for the extra attacker, but Schenn scored in the empty net to make it 4-2 Blues.

Alex Killorn scored with 43 seconds left after a scramble in front of the Blues net.

Mason McTavish then appeared to score after another scramble in front of the net, but upon review time expired right before he shot the puck into the net. Anaheim ended up dropping this one 4-3.

Analysis:

This was another game that the Ducks needed to win and they fell short in literally the final seconds of the game. Dostal will want the first goal back as he stopped it, but the puck managed to get behind him and slowly slide into the net. Gudas made a bad turnover that led to the second goal for Anaheim. The Ducks overall had difficulty handling the puck and making clean passes when exiting the zone.

The Ducks had four power play chances and were able to convert once. They did have two chance in the second period that could have given them some momentum if they converted. The Blues only had one power play and the Ducks kept them off the board.

Anaheim played a decent even strength game posting a CF% of 54.64% and a FF% of 53.03%. Their expected goals percentage was 52.92%. Anaheim put up 53 shot attempts to 44 for St. Louis. The game was evenly matched, but the difference was Blues were able to cash in on key moments of the game and Anaheim wasn’t able to until late in the game.

Team Notes/Stats:

Ville Husso was recalled and backed up Dostal. John Gibson should return soon.

The Ducks are now 9 points behind Calgary for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

McTavish has eight points(3 G + 5 A) in his last six games.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Islanders Sunday at 6 PM.

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March 8th, 2025