Following one of their worst losses in franchise history on Wednesday, when they fell to the Utah Mammoth 7-0, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Washington Capitals on Friday evening at Honda Center.

Washington entered this game at the top of the Metro Division, on a six-game winning streak, and having won nine of their last ten games. Caps legend Alex Ovechkin’s future remains uncertain, leaving open the possibility that this was his last career game at Honda Center.

The Ducks saw the return of forward Mikael Granlund to their lineup, who had missed ten games and 18 of the Ducks’ last 19 with a lower-body injury. He was inserted on the listed third line on the wing of Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano. The Ducks made some lineup changes to their blueline as well after having run an 11/7 lineup for their previous two games.

Here’s how they lined up to start this game:

Kreider-Carlsson-Terry

Gauthier-McTavish-Sennecke

Vatrano-Strome-Granlund

Johnston-Poehling-Killorn

LaCombe-Trouba

Zellweger-Gudas

Mintyukov-Helleson

Ville Husso got the start for the Ducks in the crease. He saved 18 of the 21 shots he faced, 20 coming in regulation. Husso was opposed by Logan Thompson, who stopped 35 of 38.

Ryan Leonard came out of the gate flying, as he’s one to do, but was on the receiving end of a collision with Jacob Trouba behind the Ducks’ net that forced him from the game with an upper-body injury, leaving the Caps down a forward for the final 44 minutes of the game.

Game Notes

Aside from a few shifts early in the game, where the Caps had the Ducks hemmed in their own zone, Anaheim did well to maintain possession in the neutral and offensive zones. The Ducks got down early, but battled back, and continued to do so as goals went back and forth all game.

The Caps exposed several Ducks seams early, generating the majority of their high-quality chances in the first period. The Caps are one of the better teams in the NHL who typically control play at 5v5, lock down their end, and are one of the higher shot volume teams. The fact that the Ducks held them to 57 shot attempts and just 21 shots on goal is impressive despite the high quality of many of those shots.

Defensive Zone Coverage: As mentioned, the Caps are one of the most polished teams in the league, so they will capitalize (pun intended) on the smallest of miscues from their opponents in the offensive zone.

Washington focused on moving pucks from low to high, where they consistently had a high F3 on the cycle, would make adjustments up top, and get pucks through to Husso, whereafter, they would send bodies from the flanks to clean up rebounds.

Defending centers have to remain extremely diligent and make difficult reads on whether to challenge high in the zone or remain low to help out defenders in the low slot. Wingers did well to get sticks on potential point shots and made necessary adjustments to eliminate lanes to activating defensemen cutting to the backdoor. Defensemen have to be careful to limit their puck-watching from dangerous areas and remain on the inside of forwards cutting from the wall to the net. As the game wore on, the Ducks seemed to clean up several of those aspects.

Forecheck: This game just may have been won on the forecheck. Though players like Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry finally found some space to build speed and operate through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, their options were limited after entry. Washington did well to keep Ducks attackers in front of them, and backcheckers did well to eliminate secondary or trailing options.

Where the Ducks pulled away was with their disruption and creation off the forecheck. They hounded retrieving defensemen, and secondary waves did well to eliminate outlets and create battles on the wall before the Caps could exit cleanly. After possession was won, the Ducks focused on flooding Thompson with shots, where he looked shaky fighting them off.

Beckett Sennecke: Sennecke continues his evolution into a true offensive play-driver. He was one of the Ducks' better forecheckers, breaking up plays deep in the offensive zone and the neutral zone. He was most impressive on the cycle, where he kept his feet moving, evaded contact, displayed vision beyond his years, and was genuinely dangerous with every puck touch.

Mikael Granlund: Granlund’s quick, decisive, and clever puck touches, especially from tight areas, were aspects the Ducks were desperately missing during his absence. His understanding of how opposing defenders approach battles and his ability to subvert expectations created seams and opportunities only he could find. He displayed a fair amount of energy, and despite being somewhat undersized, he was able to spin off pressures and protect pucks in the corners and on the walls.

The Ducks will look to correct the mistakes they made a week prior this upcoming Sunday, when they’ll host the Chicago Blackhawks, who eliminated a three-goal lead to defeat Anaheim in their last matchup.