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The Anaheim Ducks have now lost seven of their last nine games, following last night’s 7-3 loss against the Minnesota Wild.
The Ducks were without Troy Terry, John Gibson and Simon Benoit, as well as Vinni Lettieri, who were all in COVID protocol.
Anaheim came out flat and the Wild opened the scoring, as Kevin Fiala took a pass from Matthew Boldy on a rush and beat Anthony Stolarz about halfway through the frame. Then only about 1:30 later, Mats Zuccarello put a puck to the front of the net and Ryan Hartman managed to bat it in out of mid-air, extending the lead.
Max Comtois cut the lead in half a few minutes later, picking a corner with a nice shot on a rush but the Wild got back their two-goal lead before the end of the frame, as Kirill Kaprizov got a pass to Mats Zuccarello and he beat Stolarz.
The second period was a much quieter frame but the Ducks were still getting beaten to pucks and suffering from defensive mistakes. While it was a better period, they couldn’t start mounting a comeback and it remained 3-1 heading into the third period.
Minnesota extended their lead just 30 seconds into the third period, as Matthew Boldy spun away from Josh Manson and threw the puck to the net, with it deflecting off Cam Fowler and in. Then ridiculously just four seconds later, Zuccarello took the puck from Max Comtois off the faceoff and snapped a shot by Stolarz, to make it a 5-1 game. But the Wild weren’t done there and just 1:30 after that, nobody covered Victor Rask and he took a pass from Marcus Foligno to one-time a shot past Stolarz. Just two minutes into the third period, it was now a 6-1 game.
The Ducks did get two goals back after that, as Derek Grant tipped in a pass from Jamie Drysdale, followed by Trevor Zegras in tipping a pass from Cam Fowler. However, Matt Dumba shut down any chance of a comeback, snapping a shot by Lukas Dostal, who had came in to replace Stolarz, as the Wild took a 7-3 win.
Obviously, this was another rough one for the Ducks. Defensively, they were terrible, giving up rush after rush, usually the result of a turnover, often in the neutral zone. There was a lack of intensity to get to the puck from a lot of players as well and Anaheim was getting beaten in battles.
While Anthony Stolarz didn’t have a great night, I also think he isn’t to blame for a lot of what happened. He actually made some great saves in the first period that prevented the game from getting more out of hand early.
Another issue was that Sonny Milano left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return. As of now, the extent of his injury is still up in the air.
The Ducks are really sliding, having now dropped to ninth in the Western Conference in points percentage. They’ll be back in action tonight, as they face the Chicago Blackhawks.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM JANUARY
Ducks can’t stop losing skid, fall to Avalanche
Troy Terry scores hat trick as Ducks pick up win over Flyers
Ducks’ game vs. Red Wings postponed
Ducks fall 4-1 to Rangers
Lukas Dostal earns win in NHL debut, Ducks beat Red Wings in shootout
Ducks’ recent slide continues with loss to Penguins
Ducks claim Lucas Elvenes off waivers
John Gibson selected for NHL All-Star Game 
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
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