Dostal stellar in net as the Ducks showcase their best defensive effort yet, stifling the high-powered Devils with relentless counterattacks.
The Anaheim Ducks hosted the New Jersey Devils on Sunday evening at Honda Center, the second game of a three-game homestand. The Ducks were in search of their first three-game winning streak of the season, following a pair of wins against the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings.
The Devils traveled south after a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. They entered Sunday in a three-way tie for first place in the Eastern Conference standings, with a 9-3-0 record.
The Ducks remained without the services of Radko Gudas (lower-body injury), Mikael Granlund (lower-body), and Ryan Strome (upper-body). The Devils recently lost defenseman Brett Pesce for a month with an upper-body injury.
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The Ducks made some changes to their bottom-six to start the game. Nikita Nesterenko was inserted on the third line with Ryan Poehling and Alex Killorn. Frank Vatrano started on the listed fourth line with Ross Johnston and Jansen Harkins. The defensive pairs remained untouched from Friday’s game against Detroit. Sam Colangelo served as the healthy scratch.
Lukas Dostal got the nod in the crease for the Ducks and saved 32 of the 33 shots he faced. He was opposed by Jake Allen, who stopped 25 of 28.
Here are my notes from this game:
The Ducks lost the possession battle due to getting off to a slow start in this game, and didn’t register a ton of long offensive zone time sequences, but this might have been their best pure defensive effort of the season to date.
Dostal faced a handful of shots coming off of east/west movement, but ultimately, the Ducks didn’t surrender the middle of the ice and put forth a quality effort all game on the backcheck to limit second and third chances following an initial New Jersey rush. They were deadly on the counter, and they consistently found ways to maintain speed and possession through neutral ice.
“I thought there was a lot of pace in the game,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “A lot of unpredictability, a lot of excitement in the game, some skill, some great plays at both ends. All of a sudden it looked like we had the game in the bag; next thing you know, it’s a 3-1 hockey game, and they can make plays.
“I still thought right to the end, we did what we had to do, which was a lot of good things.”
Neutral Zone Forecheck-The Ducks run a somewhat stationary 1-2-2 neutral zone forecheck scheme, which limits opponents’ ability to skate through neutral ice with possession. However, the weak-side defenseman needs to be aware of their weak winger cutting through the middle, looking for an outlet to spring them on a breakaway.
There was a sequence in this game that burned them early, but they seemed to make adjustments as the game wore on, and the issue was snuffed out: an encouraging sign moving forward.
Defensive Zone-The way the Ducks handled the New Jersey cycle in this game was notably impressive, especially so because it had been one of their biggest areas of weakness in the recent past.
Players were mostly smart with their secondary pressures, careful not to take themselves out of position and leave a seam open to exploit. This led to their tertiary pressure’s ability to anticipate and disrupt said seam pass attempts and turn them into quickstrike offense.
A nitpick in this department would be when pucks are moved across the top of the defensive zone, the now strong-side defenseman has a tendency to make a half-measured pressure attempt, which can lead to them getting caught in “no-man's land,” screening the goaltender, and/or leaving their defensive partner to defend while outnumbered at the goal mouth.
Lukas Dostal-Dostal has an uncanny ability to make difficult saves look routine. His elite pucktracking was on display in this game, as he effortlessly fought through screens and anticipated how pucks moved laterally in front of him, remaining incredibly efficient in his post-to-post movement.
Ian Moore-Moore put on a defensive clinic in this game. His mobility and angling were on full display, singlehandedly eliminating rush chances all game long. Missed assignments are never a concern, and he comes away from board battles with the puck more often than not. He has the physical tools and mental makeup to become a truly elite shutdown defenseman for the Ducks for a long time. He’s been increasingly more impressive as the games go on here.
Beckett Sennecke-Simply, this was Sennecke’s best game as a professional hockey player to date. The dynamism was on full display, as he single-handedly contributed .71 expected goals of the Ducks’ 2.72 at 5v5, five of the Ducks’ 29 shots on goal, and ten of the Ducks’ 67 shot attempts. He not only flashed his elite skill, but also incorporated it in every aspect of the game. Combining that skill with his tenacity to get to the net will likely make him a dangerous player for the duration of his career.
He was able to manufacture a lot of his offense in this game with clever defensive off-puck reads and a long reach to kill plays and turn pucks up ice. He was comfortable over the entire 200-foot ice surface, in every situation, and wasn’t just keeping his head above water, but regularly and positively impacting plays.
“For everyone, we’re kind of getting more comfortable in that new D-zone structure, and the biggest thing with Q is that he says that it leads to the O-zone, that clean defense,” Sennecke said after the game. “And I think you kind of noticed that tonight.”
The Ducks will attempt to go undefeated on this three-game homestand on Tuesday, when they’ll host the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers and look to sweep their two-game season series.