The Anaheim Ducks returned home to Orange County to host the St. Louis Blues in Cam Fowler’s return to Honda Center in a pivotal matchup against a team the Ducks are chasing in the playoff race. The Ducks entered play four points behind the Blues in the Western Conference wild card standings and seven points out of the second wild card spot.
Game #62: Ducks vs. Blues Gameday Preview
The Ducks lost their last outing against the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 3-2 and have since traded defenseman Brian Dumoulin. John Gibson was forced to exit that game after sustaining a lower-body injury.
Olen Zellweger returned to the Ducks lineup after he served as a healthy scratch for the team’s previous five games. He slotted into Dumoulin’s former position next to Drew Helleson. Ross Johnston and Oliver Kylington served as healthy scratches in this game.
Lukas Dostal got the start in the Ducks’ net and stopped 18 of 21 shots in this game.
Opposing Dostal was Jordan Binnington, who stopped 20 of 23 shots.
Here are my notes on this game:
Lukas Dostal-The first goal Dostal allowed was a rare squeaker that he’d want back. He did well to gather himself and play like the Vezina-caliber talent he’s shown he can be to this point in the season. The other two goals he allowed were straight off of defensive breakdowns, one that led to a cross-crease tap in and the other a breakaway.
Power Play-Trevor Zegras’ unit with Mason McTavish, Sam Colangelo, Leo Carlsson, and Jackson LaCombe produced a goal in this game, but offered an aspect missing from the Ducks’ man-advantage for as long as memory serves: movement.
The two flanks and bumper (Carlsson, Zegras, McTavish) were in constant motion along with LaCombe while actively creating and exploiting seams and executing lateral passes. If they continue to get consistent time together, that creativity will likely lead to turning around one of the NHL’s worst power plays.
Frank Vatrano-This was a quality 60-minute, 200-foot effort from Vatrano. He was precise in his defensive responsibilities, typically as the first forward back into the defensive zone on the backcheck to break up opposing rush attacks.
Offensively, he kept plays alive with clever, detailed plays and was able to build from tight areas of the ice.
Regroups-Late in the game and trailing, the Blues were more than willing to sit back and retrieve pucks in their end, with the help of Binnington to halt rims behind the net, before sending out high flips into the neutral zone.
The Ducks were too reliant on stretch passes to stationary outlets that would tip pucks deep into the offensive zone and were unable to pressure on the forecheck. They were too late to adjust, but were successful when they’d carry pucks to the red line while off-puck forwards built speed through neutral. Only then were they able to produce those necessary opposing turnovers to build their in-zone offense.
The Ducks are below .500 for the first time since Feb. 4 and will look to hit that mark again on Sunday when they will host the New York Islanders.
