Dostal's heroics stymied the top team in hockey. Ducks survive Avalanche onslaught with a stellar goaltending performance in a crucial road victory.
As their first stop on a critical five-game road trip, the Anaheim Ducks traveled to Denver to take on the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday evening.
The Ducks, despite recent injuries to Leo Carlsson (Morel-Lavalle’s lesion) and Troy Terry (upper-body, coupled with a longer-term injury to Frank Vatrano (shoulder fracture), entered Wednesday on a four-game winning streak off the heels of a nine-game winless streak.
The Avs, far and away the NHL’s top team this season, came into this game in a relative slump, winning just three of their prior seven games and nearing the end of a seven-game homestand.
This was a significant news day for the Ducks, who had a forward, Alex Killorn, set to play his 1000th NHL game on Wednesday, and a defenseman, Jackson LaCombe, named to the USA Olympic roster as an injury replacement for Seth Jones.
Mason McTavish was a late scratch, who missed this game with an upper-body injury, after taking normal warmup reps and was seemingly good to go.
Here’s how the Ducks lineup up to start this game:
Kreider-Harkins-Strome
Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke
Viel-Poehling-Gauthier
Johnston-Washe-Moore
LaCombe-Trouba
Mintyukov-Helleson
Zellweger-Gudas
With the Ducks desperate for a big performance out of their crease, Dostal got the start and delivered, stopping 40 of 41 shots through regulation and overtime and both shootout attempts he faced. In Colorado’s net, a significantly less busy Scott Wedgewood got the nod and saved 16 of 17 shots.
“That was definitely a goalie win,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “He gave us a chance the whole game. They had some great looks, they were fast, they were dangerous almost every shift. Hey, we hung in there. We had some stretches there where we were in good spots during the game, and we were definitely hanging on.”
Game Notes
For someone for whom the numbers haven’t been kind despite playing well enough to get his team wins as an NHL starter, this was a return to superhuman (as opposed to just human) form for Lukas Dostal. He was everything for Anaheim, who practically got run out of the building by the best team in hockey.
It was “fight or flight” for the Ducks, whose primary focus was defending the inner slot as effectively as possible, surviving flurry after flurry, and disregarding the inclination to fly the zone in search of offense, which substantially impacted the outcome of possession numbers. At 5v5, the Ducks held just 34.23% (73-38) of the shot attempts share, 27.08% of the shots on goal share (35-13), and 24.48% of the expected goals share (3.56-1.16).
Lukas Dostal: Though the team in front of him tried as best they could to break up offensive sequences, limit cross-ice passes, and clear second-chance opportunities, allowing the best team in hockey to possess the puck as much as they did was going to eventually lead to a high number of quality looks on Anaheim’s net.
Dostal displayed every aspect of his game that separates him and renders him an elite talent in the NHL. He was square to every puck he saw, expertly tracked pucks east to west, and every puck he saw either stuck to him or he was able to deflect it to relative safety, limiting any second chance opportunities for crashing Avs players.
Rush Defense: Protecting the high-danger areas of the ice for the Ducks started 200 feet from their net, in the offensive zone. Defensemen conservatively selected when and where to pinch, while F2 and F3s exclusively and energetically tracked back through the middle with the intention of minimizing odd-numbered attacks.
Defensemen read off their backcheckers, and combined, they broke up countless cross-ice and seam pass attempts. By not focusing so much on the puck while backchecking, forwards efficiently collapsed to the crease, which allowed them to clear potential second chances.
Cutter Gauthier: Gauthier was the Ducks' most impactful player in this game on a shift-by-shift basis and was one of the few who could hold possession and drive offensive chances consistently. He kept his feet moving on the cycle, allowing him to work for his own shot, and his separating speed factored on the forecheck, and with possession, drove opponents toward their own goal line, opening up cutback or passing lanes across the top of the offensive zone.
Gauthier single-handedly accounted for five of the Ducks’ 16 total shots (nobody else on their roster had more than two) in this game and seven of their 45 shot attempts. In attempts to generate higher quality looks, he was careless with the puck after entry on several occasions, sending poor passes across the top of the zone, the only flaw in an otherwise standout performance from the sophomore winger.
Jackson LaCombe: The United States’ newest Olympian and Ducks’ top blueliner led his defense corps in their efforts to protect the crease areas at all costs. In an area of weakness throughout the season, LaCombe and his d-men boxed out net-front opponents when perimeter shots were taken, clearing rebounds and fronting to block shots when required.
He was a one-man breakout on several instances, allowing his teammates to catch their breath after a flurry, and led rushes the other way in which he would confidently gain entry, constantly scanning for options, and drive to the strong post in search of cutting teammates, shooting lanes, or skating lanes to hold onto the puck and establish offensive zone time.
Jeff Viel: A fight and two goals in his first three games for Anaheim is an impressive stat line. While perhaps not as noticeable or explosive on the forecheck as fellow bottom-six forwards like Ryan Poehling or Jansen Harkins, Viel displays a high motor, making opponents work for their outlets. He’s not a play driver or stride-by-stride workhorse by anymeans, but manages the puck well and remains a presence in the less glamorous areas of the ice.
The Ducks will hope to extend their winning streak to six games in an ever-important Pacific Division matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Friday, a team with whom they’re currently battling for a playoff position.