Ducks Get Doubled Up By Blues

Photo: USA Today

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their homestand by hosting the St. Louis Blues. John Gibson was in net against Jordan Binnington. Frank Vatrano did not play in this game. He and his wife Rebecca welcomed their first child into the world earlier in the day.

Recap

The Ducks opened the scoring on a power play just under two minutes into this contest. Kevin Shattenkirk passed the puck to Troy Terry, who one timed the puck from the right face-off circle high over Binnington for the score.

The Blues answered just 15 seconds later. Justin Faulk and Jakub Vrana got the puck down low on a 2-on-1 and Vrana beat Gibson with a backhand shot.

Two minutes later Nikita Nesterenko would score his first NHL goal to put the Ducks back ahead 2-1. The Blues turned over the puck in their own zone and Mason McTavish got the puck in the slot area. He found Nesterenko at the side of the net for the tap in goal.

The Blues answered back with a pair of goals with just under five minutes left in the opening period. Sammy Blais brought the puck into the Anaheim zone and into the slot area. He took a quick wrist shot that beat Gibson glove side to tie things up at two.

St. Louis then made it a 3-2 game just 20 seconds later. Justin Faulk made a stretch pass to Brayden Schenn in the natural zone springing him in on a partial breakaway. He scored stick side, which Gibson got a piece of the shot, but then it trickled past him into the net. The Blues led 3-2 after the first period.

The Blues scored twice in the opening two minutes of the second period to make it a 5-2 contest. First, the Ducks turned over the puck in the St. Louis defensive zone, which resulted in an odd man rush for the Blues. Vrana passed the puck across to Schenn, who beat Gibson for his second of the game.

The next goal was scored about 30 seconds later on a lucky bounce for St. Louis. Nick Leddy threw the puck at the net from the point and Gibson made the save, but the puck then deflected off Kasperi Kapanen‘s leg and into the goal.

The Ducks had two power play chances in the middle frame, but couldn’t convert. Anaheim was down 5-2 heading into the final period.

The Blues extended their lead off the opening face-off in the third period. Kapanen brought the puck into the Anaheim zone and in the slot area. He skated to one side of the net and fired the puck back at the opposite post just beating Gibson stick side.

The Ducks got one back with a goal by Ryan Strome. Max Jones rushed the Blues net and was denied. Trevor Zegras followed up the play and tried to score by taking a bank shot off Binnington’s back, but the puck trickled to the far post in the crease instead. Strome was there for the cleanup duties and tapped in the puck.

Anaheim got a power play later on in the period, but they couldn’t cash in. There was no more scoring and the Ducks ended up dropping this one 6-3.

Analysis:

It fast and furious start to this one. The Ducks got on the board first and then the two teams exchanged goals all within the first four minutes of the contest. Anaheim had a good start with a 2-1 lead, but then St. Louis got two goals late in the period. The opening of the second period proved costly as the Blues scored twice within 30 seconds to make it a 5-2 game and they never looked back.

Another rough night for Anaheim in terms of shots on goal as they were outshot 29 to 18 through the first two periods. The final shot total was 36 to 25. They did win the special teams battle keeping the Blues scoreless in their four power play attempts. The Ducks did convert on one of their five attempts.

It was good to see Nesterenko get his first NHL goal in his third game with the Ducks. He had two shots on goal in this one and he was on ice for almost 15 minutes(14:43). He also saw one minute and 13 seconds of power play time as well.

Team Notes/Stats:

Troy Terry left the game at the end of the second period for personal reasons.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Colorado Avalanche Monday at 7PM.

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March 26th, 2023