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Ducks register 39 shots but fall short against Blackhawks |
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The Anaheim Ducks came up short against the Chicago Blackhawks last night, falling 4-2 at home.
Anaheim looked really good to start the game, outplaying Chicago through the first 10 minutes, and outshooting them by about an 11-1 margin to start the game. The Ducks then had a power play midway through the period, and had some good chances including a Frank Vatrano one-timer, but couldn’t convert.
But with seven minutes to go in the frame Isaak Phillips put a great wrist shot off the crossbar and in through a screen, opening the scoring for the Blackhawks. Then only about four minutes later, Teuvo Teravainen took a pass from Taylor Hall and beat Lukas Dostal on a Chicago power play, increasing the lead to 2-0.
So despite a great start from Anaheim, Chicago took the momentum as the period went on, and the Ducks found themselves in a multi-goal hole through 20 minutes.
Anaheim had some great chances around the net to start the second period, followed by a power play chance, but just couldn’t manage to beat Arvid Soderblom. While they once again had their opportunities throughout the frame, they couldn't get any results. Then with Chicago on a late power play in the final minutes of the period, Seth Jones ripped a one-timer past Dostal, increasing the lead to 3-0 through 40 minutes.
Anaheim kept pressing in the third period though, outshooting the Blackhawks by a huge 17-9 margin. Then midway through the frame, the fourth line gave the Ducks some life when Brock McGinn took a pass from Ross Johnston to get the puck through Soderblom, putting Anaheim on the board.
While the Ducks did have some chances from there, including an unsuccessful opportunity off a rush from Alex Killorn, Ryan Donato managed to poke a puck past Dostal in a scramble at the side of the net with only a little over two minutes to go, ending any chances of a comeback. Anaheim did add a late power play goal from Mason McTavish with only seconds to go, but that’s as close as they’d come, falling 4-2.
Takeaways
For a team who’s pretty consistently struggled to generate offense this season, there were some things to like for Anaheim. The Ducks had managed 26 shots or less in six of their 10 games coming into last night’s contest, so the fact they were actually able to generate more chances and sustain offensive zone time was a positive.
At the same time, the Ducks still can’t score. They’ve managed two goals or less in seven of their 11 games so far, and only once have they managed more than three goals.
As of now, Troy Terry is the only player on the team who has more than six points this season. Frank Vatrano has struggled to replicate his success with a single goal this year, while Trevor Zegras still has just one empty net goal and three points. Alex Killorn has just three points as well, and Robby Fabbri has a single goal (his only point), while Cutter Gauthier has yet to score.
Even some of the defensemen we expected to be producing in Cam Fowler, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger haven’t had a huge impact production-wise.
It’s not like these players aren’t getting chances: the Gauthier-Zegras-Killorn line notably outshot their opponents 9-2 at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. But right now, there’s just no source of primary offense that can be counted on from a game-to-game basis, even if some of the chances may be coming.
I think the feeling coming out of this loss would be different if it were more of a one-off situation where the Ducks just couldn’t turn chances into goals. But the lack of scoring has been a consistent so far this season, and even though Anaheim may have generated more opportunities last night, it still didn’t translate into success.
We’ve also now seen what happens when Lukas Dostal isn’t at the top of his game. It’s the first time this year that Dostal hasn’t looked like a star for Anaheim, and the Ducks found themselves in a three-goal hole. With no run support, they’re basically counting on Dostal being perfect, so things go south pretty quickly when he’s not.
The Ducks need their top players to not just generate offense, but to be able to get some results. For as long as they struggle to do so, it’s going to be difficult to see any success.
The Ducks are back in action tomorrow, when they host the Vancouver Canucks.
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
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