Game number 81 for the 2024-25 Anaheim Ducks took them to St. Paul to face the Minnesota Wild for their first leg of a back-to-back on Tuesday. They were hoping to halt their losing streak at two after back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche, respectively.
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The Wild needed a point to punch their ticket to the playoffs. They entered play having notched wins in three of their last four games.
The Ducks announced they’d signed undrafted NCAA UFA Tim Washe to a one-year entry-level contract on Monday and he made his NHL debut on Tuesday. He was inserted on the fourth line in place of Nikita Nesterenko and centered Isac Lundestrom and Jansen Harkins.
Ian Moore played in his second NHL game on Tuesday and was paired with Drew Helleson on the team’s listed third pair. Pavel Mintyukov served as the team’s healthy scratch in this game.
Lukas Dostal likely received his final nod of the season by taking the crease for Anaheim in this game. He delivered one final gem on his terrific season by saving 37 of 40 shots.
Minnesota turned to Filip Gustavsson in their final game of the season with their playoff hopes in the balance. He stopped 22 of 24 shots in regulation.
Upon the start of overtime, the Wild sent out retiring legend netminder Marc-Andre Fleury with the knowledge they had clinched their playoff berth in an attempt to earn him one final victory on his resume. He did, stopping five of five shots in the process.
Here are my notes from this game:
Rush Offense-The Wild did well to limit the danger of the Anaheim rush by having their F3 diligently backchecking through the middle of the ice and rarely allowed an outnumbered attack.
Rather than change pace or cut to the middle after entry, Anaheim puck carriers typically elected for perimeter shots with a lack of traffic driving the middle. On the opposite side of the ice, Minnesota did everything they could to amplify the danger of their rush attacks by stopping up, cutting to the middle, or wheeling around the net to buy time for trailers to join the play and find soft ice as passing options.
Cycle-Leo Carlsson’s line had a handful of quality sequences on the cycle in the offensive zone. In a refreshing development, they displayed far more player movement both on and off the puck.
The three forwards would move pucks low to high, but instead of remaining in the corners or attempting to fight their way to the net front to create traffic, they followed their pass high, forcing the defenseman to activate, and drawing defenders out of position in the process.
Traffic wasn’t absent when pucks were moved to the point. Quite the opposite, in fact. Instead of fighting for position one-on-one in front of the net, they timed their cuts to the middle for moving screens and tips so that while presenting traffic, if pucks bounced to the corners, they had the jump on defenders for retrievals.
Tim Washe-Washe’s usage in his first career game was a disappointing 6:24 TOI. However, he made the most of his shifts when he was utilized. He showcased his above-average foot speed, which was impressive for a player of his size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds). He got to defenders on forechecks but had trouble creating board battles out of those efforts. He was more effective in open ice, where he could angle and eliminate time and space for opponents.
His best opportunity of the game came from cleverly finding his way to the front of the net when a perimeter shot was taken and he got a skillful tip on it, nearly resulting in a goal.
Ian Moore-Moore only played 11:16 in this game, with some good and bad moments. He was intelligent with his breakout efforts, taking the open ice when it was afforded, but was quick and efficient with his outlets when it wasn’t. He still has some adjusting to take care of when it comes to reading his pressure deep in his own zone for retrievals.
The Ducks will next travel to face the Winnipeg Jets for their finale of the 2024-25 NHL season.
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