Ducks Rally, But Still Fall To The Sabres

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Buffalo Sabres on Action Hero Night. Fans in attendance received a Trevor Zegras action figure with him posing after he made his flip pass over the net to Sonny Milano, who scored on the play. Lukas Dostal got the start in net against Eric Comrie. John Klingberg was back in the lineup after feeling ill in Las Vegas.

Recap:

The Sabres opened the scoring with a goal by Tyson Jost. He took a shot from behind the goal line off to the side and the puck hit Dostal’s leg pad and redirected into the net.

Later in the period, Buffalo extended their lead to 2-0. While on the power play, Tage Thompson one-timed the puck from the right face-off circle and the shot beat Dostal low.

In the second period the Ducks came alive and scored three straight times. First Trevor Zegras would drive towards the net and then found a trailing Kevin Shattenkirk, who beat Comrie stick side to get Anaheim on the board.

Cam Fowler would then score back-to-back goals to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead. He took a point shot just inside the blue line and the puck found the back of the net through traffic. Fowler then scored about five minutes later as he got to a loose rebound for an easy tap in goal.

Buffalo then answered back with two goals of their own. Quinn found Peyton Krebs in the slot and he beat Dostal five-hole to tie things up at three. Casey Mittelstadt then scored a few minutes later as he beat Dostal glove side from the left face off circle.

Early in the third period, Buffalo expanded their lead to 5-3. Alex Tuch received a pass after just getting out of the penalty box and beat Dostal glove side.

The Sabres added two more goals. Girgensons scored from the slot and Tuch scored at point blank range as he was all alone in front of the Anaheim net. Buffalo went on to win 7-3.

Analysis:

The Ducks had an extremely rough period putting up just three shots in the opening period and they all came in the final minutes. They found themselves down by two and then were able to rally with three straight goals in the second period. The game became interesting, but the Sabres scored the next five goals to go on to win 7-3.

Anaheim has given up 20 goals in their last three losses. Despite not having Troy Terry in the lineup, the Ducks have been able to still score goals. The issue is the defense has been a huge piece of Swiss cheese lately regardless who is in net. Things won’t get any easier as the Kings are up next on Friday.

Team Stats/News:

Derek Grant played in his 400th career NHL game.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the LA Kings Friday at 6 PM.

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February 15th, 2023