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The Anaheim Ducks dropped their fifth game in a row today, falling 4-3 to the Florida Panthers in overtime.
Max Comtois came back into the Ducks’ lineup in place of Brett Leason, while Nathan Beaulieu played in place of Colton White, and John Gibson got another start.
The Ducks actually put together a pretty strong first period and had a lot more jump than we’ve seen recently with their starts. Mason McTavish was then able to put Anaheim up midway through the period, following up on his own rebound to open the scoring. Then on a power play a little later, Kevin Shattenkirk’s point shot went wide, but Frank Vatrano was there to bury a rebound, leaving the Ducks up 2-0 through 20 minutes.
Florida did get one back early in the second frame though, with Eric Staal deflecting Radko Gudas’ point shot off Simon Benoit’s skate and in. The Panthers went on to outplay the Ducks through a lot of the frame and then midway through the period, it looked like Staal scored his second goal of the game, but it was quickly called back on a coach’s challenge for goalie interference. However, Florida did end up tying the game for real later, with Matthew Tkachuk sliding the puck across to Marc Staal on a rush, who tapped it into the open net.
The Ducks continued to struggle in the third period, getting into penalty trouble and being outshot badly in the first half of the frame. However, John Gibson singlehandedly kept the game tied, making 13 saves in the first seven minutes alone. Despite Anaheim being completely outplayed, Dmitry Kulikov ripped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky, putting Anaheim back ahead. However, the Panthers ended up tying it again only a little over a minute later, with Gustav Forsling’s shot going in off Ryan Lomberg’s skate. Florida kept pressing afterwards but despite being outshot 23-6 in the in the frame, some great efforts from Gibson got the Ducks to overtime.
In the extra frame though, the Ducks left Carter Verhaeghe wide open in the neutral zone, who went in on a breakaway to beat Gibson, lifting the Panthers to a 4-3 overtime win.
After a pretty solid opening frame, the Ducks were completely outplayed through much of the back two periods. They were outshot 37-17 through the second and third combined and naturally, it’s going to be tough to hold a lead when a team continues to give up both the volume and quality of chances that Anaheim was.
John Gibson had to be excellent, stopping 51 shots in the loss. So while it was the first time in five games that the Ducks didn’t give up at least six goals, the 55 shots allowed easily could’ve amounted to such, if not for some great goaltending.
So as of now, the Ducks are tied for last in the league in both points and points percentage.
Troy Terry’s absence continues to be felt as well up front. Max Jones just doesn’t have the skills to be playing this high in the lineup. He can be a somewhat effective depth forward to add some intensity and physicality but too often, he’s unable to even get a good shot off when set-up with a chance. Obviously, there are many, many other issues with the Ducks, but it’s just a lineup decision that isn’t helping.
The game marked the first outing of Anaheim’s four-game Eastern Conference road trip and as we know, the quality of competition isn’t about to get any easier. The Ducks will be right back in action tomorrow, when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM FEBRUARY
Where do the Ducks go from here?
Ducks battle back against Stars but fall in shootout
Ducks defeat Blackhawks in overtime to wrap up back-to-back set
Ducks give up 59 shots in loss to Penguins
Ducks on losing streak, have allowed 20 goals over last three games
Who will the Ducks trade before the deadline?
Ducks’ skid reaches four games with loss to Kings 
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