Ducks Can’t Slow Down The Avs

Photo: Denver Post

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks concluded their brief back-to-back road trip in Colorado against the Avalanche. Lukas Dostal was in net against Alexandar Georgiev. The Ducks were still without Trevor Zegras(lower-body injury). Brock McGinn did draw in the lineup for this game.

Recap

The Avs got on the board just under seven minutes into this contest. Samuel Girard crashed the net and his rebound chance went off Dostal then into the net. On the next shift, Leo Carlsson hit the post coming close to tying the game.

About six minutes later Valeri Nichushkin tipped home a point shot and the Avs led 2-0. The Ducks did answer back with a goal by Sam Carrick in the final minute of the first period. Radko Gudas took a point shot and Carrick tipped it home at the last minute. Avs led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.

In the second period there was only one goal scored. Fredrik Olofsson scored on a one-timer from the slot to make it a 3-1 game with just over five minutes left in the second period. The Ducks played a better period and kept the game close heading into the third period.

In the final frame, it was almost all Avs. Ross Colton and Nichushkin would score about two minutes apart early in the period to make it a 5-1 Colorado lead. Max Jones got on the board about halfway through the period to make it 5-2, but that was as close as the Ducks would get. The Avs added three more goals by Joel Kiviranta, Andrew Cogliano, and Devon Toews to go on and win 8-2.

Analysis:

The Ducks got off to an extremely slow start. The Avs registered the first 11 shots on net and held a 17 to 3 SOG advantage at the end of the first period. Obviously not an idea start to the contest, but a Carrick goal at the end of the first period kept the Ducks within one. Anaheim played much better in the middle frame where the shots were 11 to 9 in favor of the Avs.

The Ducks were still in a position for a comeback down by two goals heading into the final frame. But the third period is where the wheels fell off for Anaheim. Two quick goals early on and two more within 21 seconds apart after Jones’ goal were just back breakers.

This game was a tale of different periods. The Avs controlled the play at will in the first(76 CF% & 75 FF%) and third(60 CF% & 68.75%) periods at even strength. The Ducks held control of the play in the second frame with a 64.52 CF% and 62.5 FF%. The Avs are one of the top teams in terms of puck possession and it showed in this contest.

Dostal had a solid start to the season, but has now not played as well in his last two starts. Last night he stopped 30 of 38 shots on net. He also gave up five goals in the start before against Philadelphia. John Gibson was off to a slow start losing his first three games, but now he has won three of his last four starts. He hasn’t allowed more than two goals against since October 26th. It appears the two have traded places in terms of their play.

Team Stats/Notes:

Jakob Silfverberg recorded an assist on Jones’ goal. He is now seventh all time in terms of points in team history.

What’s Next?

Ducks return home to face the Panthers Friday at 7PM.

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November 16th, 2023