Photo: AP
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks continued their homestand against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Ducks got Derek Grant and Hampus Lindholm back in the lineup as they came out of the COVID protocol. Anthony Stolarz was in net against Tristan Jarry.
Recap
The Ducks got down early in this one as former teammate Marcus Pettersson stripped Troy Terry of the puck and Jeff Carter then fired it past Stolarz.
The Penguins continued to apply pressure and Ryan Getzlaf was called for tripping. The Ducks were able to kill off the penalty.
Pittsburgh registered 16 shots on goal in the opening period and Stolarz had to make several saves, including stopping a breakaway chance for the Pens. The opening period ended with a late power play for the Ducks which carried over to the second period.
Anaheim nearly scored on the power play as Sonny Milano made a great pass to Rickard Rakell at the side of the net, but he was denied. The Ducks did not convert with the extra man.
Hampus Lindholm was called for a penalty and Evgeni Malkin would score to make it 2-0.
The Ducks would answer as Jakob Silfverberg got to a loose puck in front of the Pittsburgh net and scored to pull Anaheim within one.
Malkin would then score again on a pass that he redirected past Stolarz from the slot. The Ducks were down 3-1 heading into the third period.
Anaheim made a push in the beginning of the third period and had two power play chances, but couldn’t convert on either one. The Ducks played better in the final period, but couldn’t get anything past Jarry. They pulled Stolarz for the extra attacker with over three minutes to go and Jeff Carter scored an empty net goal to put this game away.
Analysis(Stats From Natural Stat Trick)
The Ducks got off to a rough start giving up an early goal and allowing 32 shot attempts against in the first period. Anaheim managed just 10 shot attempts and seven of those were on net. The Ducks were fortunate to only be down one goal after the first period.
The Pens jumped out to 2-0 lead early in the second and the Ducks could never recover. Anaheim did play better, but they couldn’t get anything going on their three power play attempts. They were also dominated in the face-off circle only winning 35% of the draws. During even strength play the Ducks posted just a 36.67 CF% and 40.85 FF%, which won’t get it done against a contender like Pittsburgh.
This game follows the trend of some recent games against contenders for Anaheim. The Ducks have made strides this season that no one expected, but they definitely have work to do in order to be a contending team. We discussed this trend on the podcast and how the trade deadline will be interesting for the Ducks this year.
Anaheim is almost back to full strength with only Sam Carrick and John Gibson out on the COVID protocol. Adam Henrique is still on the IR as well. If they can get these players back and stay healthy, then it will be interesting to see how they do in the coming months.
What’s Next?
The Ducks head to Minnesota to take on the Wild Friday at 5 PM PT.
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January 11th, 2022
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