VIDEO: Ducks Can’t Take Down Wild

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their homestand against the Minnesota Wild. Adam Henrique did not play as his wife was expecting soon. The Ducks called up Pavol Regenda. John Gibson was in net against Filip Gustavsson.

Recap

The Ducks earned the first power play of the contest just over six minutes in, but weren’t able to convert. The Wild went on the power play at the end of the period and it carried over into the second period. There was no scoring in the opening 20 minutes.

Anaheim killed off the remainder of the penalty from the first period and then had to kill off another penalty early in the second period.

Trevor Zegras then pulled off “The Michigan” or as some call it “The Zegras” as he went behind the net and deposited the puck off the back of Gustavsson and into the net. Minnesota decided to challenge the play and the goal was nullified because the Ducks were ruled to be offside.

Moments later Nathan Beaulieu and Connor Dewar dropped the gloves about four minutes into the middle frame,

The Ducks would then take the lead on Pavol Regenda‘s first NHL goal. He got the puck in between the circles and took a shot beating Gustavsson high.

The Wild would answer back on the power play and tie things up with a goal by Kirill Kaprizov.

The teams remained tied at the end of the second period, but the Ducks would be without Nathan Beaulieu and Kevin Shattenkirk for the rest of the game, who were both injured in the middle frame.

In the third period, Matt Dumba scored in the opening minutes to make it a 2-1 game. The Ducks were then called for three penalties in a span of about two and a half minutes. Kirill Kaprizov would score on one of the power plays to make it a 3-1 lead for Minnesota. Former Duck Joseph Cramarosa would add a goal with just over eight minutes left to make it a 4-1 game.

At the end of the game, the teams came together and all the players started pushing and shoving each other. After it was all said and done the Ducks ended up with a power play out of it, but it didn’t matter. The Ducks ended up losing 4-1.

Analysis

The Ducks played a decent game though the first two periods of this contest. Despite having a goal called back, they were able to still score first and saw themselves tied heading into the third period. They also held a 25 to 23 shot advantage through forty minutes of play.

The beginning of the third period is where everything seemed to fall apart for the Ducks. They gave up a quick goal and then they were called for several penalties in a row. The Ducks were down by two and couldn’t never mount a comeback against the Wild. It was a difficult situation for Anaheim who had to play the entire third period with just four defensemen. They also had to play part of the second period without Beaulieu and Kevin Shattenkirk.

The Ducks ended up very frustrated in the third period as they had to battle the refs in this contest while also being down two players for half the game. Had the Zegras goal counted early in the second period, then this game could of likely had a different outcome. It was great to see him score like that in person, but equally disappointing to see it called back.

Team Notes/Stats:

Pavol Regenda scored his first NHL goal.

Shattenkirk left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury.

Beaulieu left the game in the second period after his fight. It’s unclear where he was injured.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday at 7 PM.

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November 9th, 2022