The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up their brief, three-game homestand by hosting the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Honda Center. The Ducks returned to .500 on the season after defeating the New York Islanders on Sunday by a score of 4-1.
Game #64: Ducks vs. Capitals Gameday Preview
The Capitals entered the game tied with the Winnipeg Jets at the top of the NHL standings and are currently the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. This was the first game of a California road trip, and they had won their last four games coming into this one.
Ducks head coach Greg Cronin stuck with the same lineup that earned his team their victory on Sunday. Brett Leason and Oliver Kylington served as the team’s healthy scratches.
John Gibson participated in morning skate, but Ville Husso was recalled from the San Diego Gulls earlier in the day and served as the backup netminder.
Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks in this game and saved 36 of 42 shots.
Logan Thompson got the start for the Caps and saved 25 of 29.
Here are my notes from this game:
Defensive Zone Coverage-This game came down to Washington’s ability to cycle and extend their offensive zone time. They are as surgical in their attacks off the cycle as they are tenacious. They use their size and speed to dart through the slot with moving screens, which affords them the opportunities to first get to loose pucks following those perimeter shots.
The Ducks got caught more than a few times confused high in the zone, allowing the Caps to attack downhill with space or even find open attackers in the middle of the ice.
Cycle-When the Ducks got their few opportunities to generate off the cycle themselves, they mirrored much of what Washington was trying to accomplish on their shifts. There was a fair deal of perimeter movement and activations from defensemen. They sent bodies to the slot and to seek out soft ice when the puck was below the goal line, but to little avail as Washington’s defense did well to box out, disrupt, and ignite rushes the other way.
Sam Colangelo-For as well as Colangelo has adapted to the NHL in his 18 games this season, he makes some rookie mistakes in situations he’s not yet fluent in, such as transporting the puck through the neutral zone and across the offensive blueline. That’s one of the most dangerous areas of the ice and a failure to connect on a slip pass to the center can lead to an odd-man chance the other way.
On the positive side, he was one of the few players on the roster to handle the size of the opponent and win small area battles with regularity.
Lukas Dostal-Dostal’s performance will yield a poor stat line: .857 SV% and -0.6 goals saved above expected, but he did everything he could to keep the Ducks in the game. He made high-danger saves more often than should have been required and he did well to manage the game when the Caps were catching the Ducks on the ice for extended periods in their own zone.
The Ducks will have to regroup quickly, as they’ll next head to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday night for their second game of a back-to-back and against a team they’re four points back of in the Western Conference standings.