If you were hoping for a physical, intense, high-scoring affair for the 30th home opener in Anaheim Ducks history, then you got your wish on Oct. 14. A 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes gave the Ducks their first win of the season. On a night of reflection and celebration for the franchise, the win was huge for the team, head coach Greg Cronin, and the many players that were involved early and often that led this team to victory. Let’s look at some takeaways from the win.
Positive: Everybody Got Involved in the First Period
As expected, the Ducks came out swinging to start their home opener. They outhit and outshot the Canes and finished the period up 3-0. Easily their best period of the four they had played to that point in the season.
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Everybody was involved, too. Rookie Pavel Mintyukov, in his second career game, scored his first goal of the season on a great sequence of player movement and passing. Ryan Strome fed the puck to a cutting Jackson LaCombe, who had the primary assist by setting Mintyukov up beautifully for a strong one-touch tap-in past the Carolina goalie. On the play, both LaCombe and Mintyukov activated offensively, skated with poise, and demonstrated the finesse and skill that have them labeled as premier prospects in the Ducks organization. Just silky smooth movement all-around on this one. Hopefully just the start for these two.
Sam Carrick built upon his impressive preseason with an absolute snipe from the slot to put the Ducks up 2-0. He’s made his presence felt in the early days of the season with his physicality and this offensive contribution. On the third goal, Frank Vatrano got his first of the season off a nice entry and setup by Cam Fowler and Jamie Drysdale, who continued his own hot start.
It was an encouraging start considering the players involved. The scoring included four points by defensemen (a great sight to see) and contributions by middle-six forwards, two areas of the offense that needed improvement over last season.
Positive: Vatrano-McTavish-Strome Line Looks Good
It’s a small sample size, but this line looks really good. They connected yet again in the second period, with Vatrano netting his second of the game on a nice pass from below the goal line by Strome, after a corner-battle win by McTavish.
It was Strome’s 400th NHL point, and it put the Ducks up 4-1, and it would prove to be the game-winning goal. Early on, this line is working. And against strong opponents, no less. They look energized, too. Vatrano finished the game with a hat-trick, and the line overall finished with an incredible seven points on the night.
Positive: Dostál Held Strong, Gets the W in Net
Anaheim had an excellent first period. But with 40 minutes of hockey left, there was plenty of time for Carolina to make a push. They made things quite interesting, gradually chipping away and outshooting the Ducks 26-14 over the final two stanzas. This put tons of pressure on young goaltender Lukáš Dostál to hold steady, which he did despite a furious charge in the third period that included two shorthanded opportunities for the Canes. Getting the young goaltender, who figures to be their goalie of the future, his first win in his first game should do great things for his confidence as he enters the campaign as the unquestioned backup to John Gibson.
Negatives: Ducks Still Can’t Kill Penalties, First Line Yet to Hit Scoresheet
There’s no need to make a big deal of it, but the top line of Troy Terry, Adam Henrique, and Trevor Zegras has yet to hit the score sheet in a meaningful way in two games, though Terry did get involved with an assist on Fowler’s empty net goal. They finished as minus players against Vegas. They played better against Carolina, but the offense as a whole was better. Again, only two games in, but eventually these three (two of which are playing on shiny new deals), will need to start contributing. Terry was the only one of the three to get a shot on net in this one.
If we have to nitpick for an additional negative takeaway, then we must call out this team’s inability to kill penalties. Two third period power play goals got the Canes right back in the game. Yes, it’s hard not to commit infractions against highly-skilled opposition and then kill off the ensuing power play, but you need to be able to kill off penalties in high-leverage moments of the game. Or, just at any point in the game for that matter. If we can pinpoint an early-season priority to work on, penalty-killing tactics are on the shortlist.
Canes Made It Interesting, But Ducks Handled a Stanley Cup Contender
Anaheim began their home slate with a bang with this victory. New season, throwback threads, packed stadium – there was plenty to be excited about before the game started. On the ice, you couldn’t have asked for a better start. There were big hits, lots of goals (including a first career goal and a hat trick), and tons of exciting action. A lot can and will happen over the next 80 games, but the results of a big win over a team like Carolina give us all reasons to be excited about the on-ice product, too, for now.
The Ducks have a few days off but remain in OC for their next contest against another strong opponent – the Dallas Stars, who they went 1-1-1 against last season.
What did you think of the Ducks’ performance against the Canes? Sound off in the comments below!
