Ducks Sink The Kraken 6-4

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks started their two game road trip in Seattle against the Kraken. Lukas Dostal was in net against Philipp Grubauer.

Recap:

The Ducks came out flying early in this one. Frank Vatrano tried a wrap-a-around attempt and almost stuffed the puck in. The play was reviewed, but the puck did not completely cross the goal line.

Troy Terry then scored moments later. Ryan Strome found him in the slot and he beat Grubauer with a wrist shot.

About five minutes later Seattle would tie things up. Brandon Montour found Eeli Tolvanen in the slot and he one timed a shot high over Dostal’s shoulder.

Seattle extended their lead less than two minutes later. Mitchell Stephens backhanded a puck between Dostal’s arm and body for the score.

Anaheim would then tie things up on a 2-on-1 just over three minute later. Cutter Gauthier would take a shot that was blocked, but he would follow up the rebound to score.

Seattle then answered on their own 2-on-1 with a goal by Jaden Schwartz. The Kraken led 3-2 at the end of the opening period.

Mason McTavish tied the game up just one minute into the second period. He one-timed a pass high over Grubauer from the right face-off circle for the score.

A few minutes later McTavish stole the puck in the Seattle zone and found Robby Fabbri at the side of the net for the score.

Jackson LaCombe would then score next for Anaheim. He brought the puck just inside the blue line and beat Grubauer with a wrist shot. The Ducks scored three goals in just under seven minutes of play. Anaheim took a 5-3 lead to the locker room.

Seattle pulled within one early in the third period as Shane Wright scored on the power play..

The Kraken pulled their goalie in the final minutes of the extra attacker and Frank Vatrano scored in the empty net to secure the win. Anaheim won by a 6-4 final.

Analysis:

This was a run-and-gun style contest especially in the first two periods. The Ducks took the early lead with a goal by Terry just over a minute into the contest. The Kraken responded by scoring three of the next four goals. Anaheim found themselves down by one after the first period, then scored three goals in the second to take a 5-3 lead. Seattle was able to pull within one in the third, but an empty net goal by Vatrano secured the win for Anaheim.

In terms of puck possession, the Ducks were the better team for the first half of the game and the Kraken controlled the play more in the second half of the contest. Anaheim had already built a 5-3 by the halfway mark and were able to hang on the rest of the way to win. The Ducks ended up with CF% of 43.62 and FF% of 46.97% at even strength. The Ducks did have the edge in the xGF% at 51.94%.

The Ducks have now won three in a row and have exploded offensively. Anaheim has scored five or more goals in their last three contests and have 16 total over that span. In this contest six different Ducks scored. McTavish had just six goals in his first 40 games and he doubled that with six goals in his last four contests.

At times this season the line of Terry-Strome-Vatrano has provided offense. Lately, it’s been the line of Gauthier-McTavish-Fabbri. If the Ducks can get scoring from all three of their top lines night in and night out then they will be difficult to beat. It seems the top three lines may have finally all developed the much needed chemistry that has been lacking this season.

Team Notes/Stats:

McTavish scored again and has six goals total in over four consecutive games. He is also the second player in team history to score 50 goals by the age of 21. The other player to do it was none other than Paul Kariya.

McTavish became the fourth Ducks player to tally three consecutive multi-point games at the age of 21 of younger. The others who did it were Paul kamiya, Trevor Zegras, and Ryan Getzlaf.

The Ducks scored five goals in each of their last three games. The last time they achieved that feat was in 2016 when they did it in four consecutive games.

Anaheim is 20-0-2 when scoring 3 or more goals this season.

John Gibson couldn’t finish the previous game against Nashville. He left the game early with shoulder tightness per Aly Lozoff. He is good to go and could start on Thursday.

What’s Next?

The Ducks take on the Calgary Flames Thursday at 6PM.

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January 29th, 2025