Photo: NHL
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks closed out their road trip in Buffalo against the Sabres. The Ducks had gone 1-2-0 on the trip so far and were looking to even their record. John Gibson was in net against Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Recap
The Sabres opened the scoring about nine minutes into this one. Jordan Greenway beat Gibson from the high slot on an odd man rush after an Anaheim turnover.
The Ducks answered back with a goal by Adam Henrique. Ross Johnston went to the corner and knocked the puck free. Max Jones got to the puck and found Henrique streaking in the slot for the score.
The first period ended with the teams tied up at one. Things then got wild in the second period.
Sam Carrick was called for cross checking about seven minutes in the middle frame and the Sabres scored on the power play. Tage Thompson put the Sabres up 2-1 with a one timer from the left face-off circle.
Frank Vatrano then answered for the Ducks scoring twice to put Anaheim up 3-2. Mason McTavish one-timered a shot which Luukkonen stopped, but the puck was behind him and Vatrano tapped it in for the score.
Then about two and half minutes later, McTavish found Vatrano skating down the left wing and he scored as Luukkonen couldn’t cover the opposite post in time.
Buffalo then answered less than a minute later. Zach Benson tipped a shot past Gibson on a delayed penalty call against the Ducks.
Anaheim then responded with about one minute to go in the period. Luukkonen got the puck behind the net and threw it towards the boards. McTavish got to the puck and passed it to Terry at the side of the net. Terry shot the puck low and it beat the goaltender just sliding over the goal line. The Ducks held a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.
After a scoring party in the middle frame, the third period was a goalie duel. The Sabres had chances to tie the game, but Gibson stood tall in net. Tage Thompson nearly scored from the side of the net, but Gibson made a glove save on the goal line to keep the puck out of the net. The Ducks were able to hang on and win 4-3.
Analysis:
The Ducks got off to another rough start only putting four shots on goal in the opening frame. They were able to hang in there and finish the first period tied. In the second period, the line of Terry, McTavish, and Vatrano led the way for the Ducks. Vatrano scored twice and Terry once. McTavish had assists on all three goals and Terry had two assists. The third period then became a defensive battle, which Gibson was able to shut down the Sabres to earn the win for the Ducks.
Anaheim was able to win this game, but they were outplayed for most of this game. The Ducks had just 15 shots on net in 29 attempts. The Sabres had 37 shots on net in 71 attempts. The Ducks had four shots on goal in the first period and only managed two shots on goal in the third period. In terms of puck possession Buffalo posted a staggering 67.42 CF% and 68.75 FF% at even strength. The Ducks were able to win because of the play of Gibson and the second period performance of the Terry, McTavish, and Vatrano line.
The Ducks offense is in need of some serious help. On this road trip they put up 13 shots on goal(SOG) in Montreal, 20 in Ottawa, 21 in Toronto, and then 14 today. Anaheim has 1530 SOG this season, which is 28th in the league. They have a 9.3% shooting percentage, which is tied for 25th in the league. They average 2.58 goals per game, which is 29th.
Team Notes/Stats:
Vatrano leads the team with 26 goals, which is a new career high. The most goals he had scored in season was 24.
McTavish became the 5th fastest player in Ducks history to reach 80 NHL points, behind Paul Kariya (80), Bobby Ryan (105), Trevor Zegras (108), and Ryan Getzlaf (121).
Terry recorded three points in a game for the 11th time which tied Jakob Silfverberg and Scott Niedermayer for ninth all-time in team history.
What’s Next?
The Ducks return home Wednesday to face Columbus at 7 PM.
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February 19th, 2024
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