Follow me on Twitter:
@BenShelley_20
Follow HockeyBuzz Ducks on Twitter:
@HB_Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks came up short in the first game of their road trip tonight, falling in a shootout to the Washington Capitals.
We saw Vinni Lettieri and Sam Steel playing with Troy Terry, given that both Ryan Getzlaf and Adam Henrique were out of the lineup with injuries.
It was an exciting first period and Trevor Zegras was flying early on, creating several chances on both individual efforts and great passes. The Capitals opened the scoring later in the frame though, as Tom Wilson finished off a passing play from Justin Schultz and Alex Ovechkin. Despite a ton of chances being exchanged, it remained 1-0 after the first period.
The floodgates opened in the second period though, with a five-goal frame. Just nine seconds into the period, Josh Manson tapped in a puck off an initial shot from Sonny Milano. However, the Capitals would take the lead back a little bit later, as Lars Eller found Carl Hagelin with a great pass for a tap-in.
The Ducks lost momentum after that and couldn’t manage any offense for a lot of the period, but later on, Sonny Milano was able to knock in a puck out of mid air to tie the game again. Then just after that, Vinni Lettieri scored off a pass from Cam Fowler for the Ducks to take the lead. Washington would tie it once again though, as Josh Manson committed a bad turnover and Alex Ovechkin got the puck to John Carlson, who buried it on his second chance.
It was a much slower third period, where both teams played more conservatively. The Ducks did lead in shots but the number of quality chances were much lower. The game went to overtime, where the Capitals fired a few pucks at John Gibson but generally, there wasn’t a ton of action.
A shootout was needed, where Troy Terry scored as the first shooter and with the teams trading misses, Daniel Sprong needed to score to keep it going. It looked like the Ducks had won it for a second, but Sprong had barely put the puck through John Gibson to extend the shootout. Rickard Rakell and Alex Ovechkin both scored in the fourth round and when Sonny Milano was stopped, John Carlson ended it with a good shot for the win.
The Ducks had a fairly strong outing overall and it was certainly an entertaining game to watch. They kept up against one of the best teams in the league and had their share of opportunities. While it was disappointing they didn’t pick up the extra point, it was a promising start to the road trip.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Ducks Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow
@HB_Ducks for updates on articles, Ducks news, etc.***
SuperSurvey
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Ducks begin five-game road trip tonight vs. Capitals 
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»