Ducks battle through early pressure and defensive adjustments to secure a crucial victory in a potential playoff preview.
In one of their biggest litmus test games of the season, the Anaheim Ducks traveled to Salt Lake City on Friday to take on the Utah Mammoth in a preview of a potential first-round playoff series between the two clubs.
The Ducks entered play atop the Pacific Division standings and were coming off a 3-2 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
Utah was on their second game of a back-to-back after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 in Las Vegas on Thursday. They have a firm hold on the second wild spot in the Western Conference despite having won only two of their prior six games coming into Friday.
For the Ducks, this was the fourth game of Radko Gudas’ five-game suspension. Pairs were slightly shuffled around for this game as head coach Joel Quenneville seeks to find optimal partners with the introduction of John Carlson to the blueline. In this game, he was paired with Pavel Mintyukov.
Mason McTavish was reinserted into the Ducks’ lineup after serving two games as a healthy scratch. To start the game, he was placed in the middle of Alex Killorn and Beckett Sennecke. Mikael Granlund started the game on the fourth line, and Frank Vatrano was the forward group’s healthy scratch for this game.
Here’s how the Ducks lined up to start:
Kreider-Carlsson-Terry
Killorn-McTavish-Sennecke
Viel-Poehling-Gauthier
Harkins-Washe-Vatrano
LaCombe-Trouba
Mintyukov-Carlson
Zellweger-Moore
Lukas Dostal got the start in this game and stopped 29 of 30 shots. He was opposed by Vitek Vanecek in the Utah crease, who saved 20 of 22.
Game Notes
From the atmosphere to the on-ice product to the after-the-whistle altercations, this game had all the makings of a playoff matchup. Utah mightily controlled play early, accounting for the first nine shots on goal of the hockey game. They were contained in their zone and capitalized on sloppy advancements from the Ducks, which they took advantage of and formulated calculated counters.
The Ducks tightened up a bit defensively as the game wore on, adjusting by adding forechecking layers in the offensive zone and cutting off the point to back-post lanes Utah was attempting to exploit.
With Dostal leading the way, the Ducks held on as the minutes ticked by, and they came away from this game with a gritty two points they both fought hard for and were fortunate to earn.
Rush Defense: Rush defending has been an area of concern for the Ducks dating back to the early days of their rebuild. First forwards back often shade toward the puck without the necessary support from other forwards to cover the opposing trailers. If opposing attackers can find teammates, they outnumber the Ducks with speed heading downhill.
When the Ducks are able to successfully thwart a rush attack, they often have difficulty sorting their assignments as pressure is being established. Utah’s lone goal was an example of a sorting issue after an initial rush, as Dylan Guenther drifted to the far circle before the weak-side defenseman could identify him or the F3 could eliminate the passing lane.
Alex Killorn: Killorn’s game goes under-appreciated throughout the majority of every regular season. However, when games become tighter, space is harder to find, and every decision is amplified in importance; his true contributions shine brightest. In this game, he was tough to knock off a puck, drew pressure to himself, was disruptive on the defensive side of the puck, and made veteran reads in every situation to win or keep possession for his side at every turn.
Ryan Poehling: Equally as impressive as Killorn’s hockey IQ in every situation was Poehling’s physical and mental motor. Poehling took every big faceoff for the Ducks down the stretch, angled on backchecks, forced turnovers on the forecheck in every designation (F1, F2, F3), and was able to influence and pressure pucks in the defensive zone on the penalty kill. His speed and defensive prowess with sprinkles of offensive spark and details are unexpected fits next to the dynamic finishing skill of Cutter Gauthier and the north-south efforts of Jeffry Viel.
Power Play: The Ducks drew five power play opportunities in this game, but were unable to convert while generating seven shots on goal and 11 shot attempts. They had trouble gaining entry, and once pressure was established, there was very little player movement, as they deferred to a shot volume approach.
Much of their lack of success can be attributed to a need to further establish chemistry between the units with Carlson’s presence and Terry’s return. However, a reason to err on the side of allowing them the benefit of the doubt is that the coaching staff seemingly deployed two optimal units with clearly defined roles within the structure. One needn’t squint to see how successful the Ducks’ power play could eventually be (though they are running out of runway).
An aspect in need of unlocking will be Leo Carlsson’s role on the top unit. He has played a bumper position since his return from injury and had built a clever chemistry with Beckett Sennecke, switching as the play dictated between bumper and left flank. If he can establish a similar rapport with Troy Terry, both players could benefit and see their production skyrocket.
Mason McTavish: McTavish returned to the lineup in this game, starting as the listed second-line center but finishing as a listed fourth-line winger. He saw 10:22 TOI in total, contributing two shots on goal and a clever connecting effort on Killorn’s tally, but remained relatively unimpactful on a shift-by-shift basis. A goal to manufacture puck touches for himself, whether on the forecheck, in transition, or studying how players like Killorn and Chris Kreider operate in small areas, will be needed for McTavish to have any sort of impact in the late stages of the season.
The Ducks will make a brief return to Honda Center on Sunday, as they’ll host the white-hot Buffalo Sabres at 5 PM PST before heading back to Canada for a three-game road swing.