The Anaheim Ducks could not comeback as they fell to the Canucks 2-1 Sunday night.
It was a hard fought game at the Honda Center Sunday night. However, it was the Pacific Division leaders the Canucks picking up two points. Nils Hoglander and Conor Garland were the goal scorers for Vancouver. Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Nikita Zadorov and Filip Hronek. Alex Killorn was the lone Duck to score his second goal in three games. Max Jones and Urho Vaakanainen had the assist.
The game’s first 20 minutes saw the most action with both teams scoring. 1:37 into the game Quinn Hughes would display some soft hands, and found a wide open Nils Hoglander in the slot giving the Canucks the very early 1-0 lead.
Then at 4:15 Alex Killorn responded. Killorn carried the puck into the offensive zone on the rush and after some quick passes Max Jones would return the puck back to Alex Killorn who buried it to the right of the left pad of Casey DeSmith. Making the score 1-1.
After that in the second period the Canucks would score the game’s final goal.
J.T. Miller would pass it in low to Nikita Zadorov who waited for an opportune moment down low to feed Conor Garland for a tip in goal past Duck’s goalie Lukas Dostal. Miller’s assist is number 53 on the year enough for sixth in the NHL this season. The goal was at 3:34 in the period.
For the rest of the game it was clean hockey at 0-0, and Vancouver would pick up two points and the Ducks win streak ended at just two games.
Vancouver will take the series as they beat the Ducks back in November. The teams will meet again on the 31st. Anaheim is now 22-36-3.
For the most part Anaheim created a lot of opportunities for themselves with seven takeaways. However, they had seven giveaways. Vancouver also only managed two takeaways from the Ducks. Plus they got their penalty minutes down to four minutes on the night. The team is currently leading the league in penalty time per game.
Anaheim’s defense got to work with 24 hits and 20 blocked shots. In a year where the team has struggled, they manage to do small things that matter like getting a body on the puck or the other team.
Dostal had a clean game for the most part and really tightened up after the early goal. He takes the loss after John Gibson was ruled out with an illness.
Next for Anaheim is two days off then another home game, this time with the Ottawa Senators who they just beat on February 15th. Puck drop is at 10:00 P.M. EST and 7:00 P.M PST. You can catch it on BSW and NHL Power Play on ESPN+.
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