Detailed notes on Sunday evening's matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Anaheim Ducks
On Sunday evening, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out their three-game homestand. With a point in this game, the Ducks are on their first point streak since the beginning of March.
Lukas Dostal was given the crease in this game as John Gibson was unavailable due to personal reasons. Dostal stopped 24 of 27 shots.
"Hats off to Dostal," Ducks forward Ross Johnston said to the media after the game. "That's two great games in a row."
Johnston scored his first goal of the season, and first since April 24, 2022, on a quality transition sequence capped by a deft pass from Jakob Silfverberg and a skillful one-handed finish from Johnston.
Here are my notes from this game:
Breakouts: There was more of an effort from defensemen below the goal line to look for the curling center as an outlet in the middle of the zone rather than force a puck up one of the walls.
Neutral Zone Forecheck: All six defensemen were astute and showed great discipline and reaction skills to eliminate outlet options, cut off pass attempts, and quickly find forwards further up ice for transition chances.
Transition Offense: After turnovers in the neutral or defensive zones, forwards were more willing to look for cutting forwards in space or far-side defensemen activating to generate rush opportunities. Earlier in the season, most pucks were moved North at all costs.
Defensive Zone Coverage: Defensemen and low forwards were far stronger and more efficient protecting the front of the net. Dostal was able to see pucks shot from distance and very few rebounds were available around the crease.
Pavel Mintyukov: Mintyukov gave a performance worthy of a team's number one defenseman. He was dominant in every zone and every situation; disruptive and strong in D-zone coverage, stood up or cut off every rush attempt on his side of the ice, and chose ideal times to activate on rushes or cycles. He and LaCombe continue to swallow any transition attacks going their way.
Max Jones: Jones has greatly improved his vision and puck skills. He gets to and battles to stay in dirty areas of the ice. Once there, the next step in his development may be to work on skills in tight like finding soft areas or anticipating rebounds and bounces. Alex Killorn and Adam Henrique, before him, excel in this aspect of the game.
The Ducks will head out on the road for five games starting with two straight against the Kraken in Seattle starting Tuesday at 7PM PST.