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The Anaheim Ducks fell 4-3 to the Seattle Kraken last night in their first game since the All-Star Break.
The Kraken opened the scoring only two minutes into the game, when Ryan Donato one-timed a shot past John Gibson. However, Anaheim won the faceoff right after allowing the goal and just 12 seconds later, Isac Lundestrom knocked in a loose puck to tie the game. Following little action in the next 10 minutes or so after that though, Yanni Gourde found Vince Dunn with a nice pass and Dunn buried the puck into the open net, putting Seattle back on top. Anaheim outshot Seattle by an 11-6 margin in the frame but still entered the intermission down 2-1.
In the second period, Isac Lundestrom tied it up with his second goal of the game, burying a puck that Derek Grant had thrown to the front of the net. Then just three minutes later, Rickard Rakell tipped in a point shot from Jamie Drysdale on a power play to give the Ducks the lead for the first time. It didn’t last long though, as the Ducks were sloppy in their own end and turned the puck over, which led to Ryan Donato beating Gibson with a wrist shot for his second goal of the game. Seattle ended up generating some really good chances after that and nearly took the lead before the end of the frame but couldn’t capitalize and it remained 3-3 after 40 minutes.
We saw a really slow third period after that, with the teams combining for just 11 shots. The Ducks did manage some good chances in the frame but with under two minutes to go, it was the Kraken who broke the tie, as the Ducks left Jordan Eberle wide open to receive a pass on a rush, leading to a goal and a 4-3 Kraken win.
While the effort from the Ducks was decent overall, their defensive lapses made the difference. The third goal was completely avoidable and there was very little urgency or focus on a clean zone exit, despite having tons of time to make a play. On the fourth goal, Cam Fowler got a bit lost but nobody came to cover for him either and again, it was very avoidable if there was a bit of focus on picking up the passing options.
In a tight playoff race in the Western Conference, the Ducks can’t afford to drop two points on home ice to one of the league’s weakest teams. With the loss, Anaheim drops to 10th in the Western Conference in points percentage.
The Ducks’ next game comes on Wednesday, as they face the Calgary Flames.
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