Ducks Can’t Slow Down Flyers

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks started off the new year against the Philadelphia Flyers. John Gibson was in net against Samuel Ersson. The Ducks went with the 11 forward – 7 defensemen lineup.

Recap

The Flyers got an early power play just 3:23 into the game. They created some scoring chances, but the Ducks were able to kill the penalty.

Philadelphia would get the opening score a few minutes after the power play. Joel Farabee would get the puck in front of the Ducks net and backhand it five-hole for the score.

Morgan Frost then made it a 2-0 game halfway through the first period. He took a shot at the top of the right face-off circle and beat Gibson stick side.

The teams traded power plays for the rest of the period, but neither team converted. The Flyers were up 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Philadelphia made it a 3-0 game early in the second period. Kevin Hayes found Travis Konecny on a 2-on-1 and he scored from the side of the net.

The Ducks had two power play chances in the middle frame, but couldn’t score either time with the man advantage. On the first power play, Ryan Strome almost got Anaheim on the board as he beat Ersson, but the puck rang off the post. During the second one, Trevor Zegras had a chance alone in front, but he couldn’t get the puck past Ersson.

In the third period, Scott Laughton made it a 4-0 game. He made a wrap around attempt, which saw the puck go off Cam Fowler‘s skate and deflect into the net.

Strome would break up the shut out bid in the final minute of the game. He got the puck in the slot and with traffic in front beat Ersson stick side. The Ducks ended up dropping this one 4-1.

Analysis:

The Ducks got behind by two goals early in this one and couldn’t recover. They had their chances especially with five power plays in this game, but they couldn’t convert on any of them. Anaheim also hit the post a few times or else this game could have been a closer score.

The shots on goal were pretty even this game with 33 for the Flyers and 29 for the Ducks. Gibson definitely would have wanted the second Philly goal back and he appeared to misjudge the shot. In terms of puck possession, the Ducks posted a 44% CF and 43.1% FF at even strength play. Overall the Ducks didn’t play poorly, but the first period cost them.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at 7 PM.

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January 3rd, 2023