Derek Lee and Patrick Present discuss the early struggles of the Ducks' power play The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night at Honda Center. Game #19: Ducks vs. Sabres Gameday Preview [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/game-day/ducks-gameday-preview-11-22-24] The Ducks came in riding a three-game winning streak, while the Sabres came in fresh off a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Ducks' head coach Greg Cronin iced an identical lineup to the one that earned the Ducks a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Mason McTavish returned to practice on Thursday after missing the past two weeks with an upper-body injury but will be further evaluated over the weekend. Brock McGinn and Urho Vaakanianen remain out with injuries of their own. The Sabres were without star center and co-leading scorer Tage Thompson, who was out with a lower-body injury. John Gibson got the start in this game for the Ducks. He stopped 29 of 32 shots and saved .66 goals above expected [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20242025&game=20317]. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen received the crease for the Sabres in this game fresh off a 23-save shutout on Wednesday. He continued his quality play and saved 22 of 24 shots and 1.1 goals above expected [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20242025&game=20317]. Here are my notes on this game: Neutral Zone: The Sabres and Ducks run a similar neutral zone forechecking scheme where they eliminate options and shadow assignments as pucks move up ice, resulting mostly in deflections deep into offensive zones. First passes were often disrupted, and easy breakouts were hard to come by. Despite that, neither team was able to establish much sustained offensive zone time. The Ducks cleaned up their puck management after the first period, but two rare mistakes ended up in the back of the net. Trevor Zegras and Leo Carlsson: Zegras and Carlsson are at their best when they are attacking off the rush. They adjusted as the game wore on when presenting as outlet options to where when they received stretch passes, they skated south and curled up ice. This gave them the ability to manufacture time and space to build speed that wasn't available to them. The pair is starting to make plays through the seams created by Killorn's north-south approach driving to the net. Brett Leason: Leason is indicating the game is slowing way down for him of late. He's able to read and anticipate layers of defenders to find the optimal approach to attack. Similarly to Carlsson and Zegras, Leason and Cutter Gauthier are benefiting from the defensive effort and straight-line tendencies of Isac Lundestrom as their center. John Gibson: Gibson let in a rare goal that found its way through a gap in his body. Other than that, he was stellar. He managed the game from inside the crease like few can, reading when his teammates wanted to push tempo or when they were tiered and needed a freeze. Power Play: The power play units are gaining familiarity with each other and are adding layers to their approach. On one unit, Troy Terry and Ryan Strome are running two-man cycles out of the left corner to open up opportunities and were able to carry pucks off the goal line in this game. Zegras acted a bit like a rover with the man advantage during his time on the ice. He carried pucks along the top of the umbrella, constantly misinforming defenders to open up chances for teammates. The Ducks will look to get back into the win column on Monday when they'll host the Seattle Kraken in the first game of a home-and-home series against their division opponent. Ducks’ 2024 Draft Class off to Hot Start [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/ducks-2024-draft-class-off-to-hot-start] As Ducks Search for Offense, Unsung Heroes Have Emerged [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/as-ducks-search-for-offense-unsung-heroes-have-emerged]
