Ducks struggle against Connor Ingram, Coyotes
ANAHEIM –– For the Ducks, Wednesday’s thrill of victory faded into the all-too-familiar agony of defeat on Friday night when they stumbled, 2-0, against the Arizona Coyotes at Honda Center.
They defeated the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 two nights earlier but failed to deposit a puck in the net against a middle-of-the-pack Coyotes club on Friday. The match marked the fourth time the Ducks have been shut out this season and their 16th regulation loss in 20 contests.
John Gibson turned away 30 shots but received no support on the scoreboard.
Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse each scored a goal for Arizona. Connor Ingram turned in his third shutout of December, two more than any other NHL netminder this month. Arizona won its sixth game in seven outings, building off a wagon-circling win that saw them rally from four goals down against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
For the Ducks, their early-season bundle of come-from-behind thrillers seemed all the more distant Friday night as consistency eluded them once more.
“It was sloppy everywhere,” said Coach Greg Cronin, who said Arizona out-worked the Ducks in every zone and won the preponderance of puck battles. “To me, it looked like they came out to win a hockey game and we came out to play a hockey game.”
In their four shutout losses, the Ducks’ goalies have been superb. They’ve been split evenly between Gibson and up-and-comer Lukáš Dostál, with each netminder conceding just three combined goals across two defeats apiece.
“It sucks not putting any on the board for (Gibson),” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “We all feel that, but we win as a team and we lose as a team. Gibbie did his part tonight and, as players, we didn’t do ours.”
The final frame was not without its opportunities for the hosts, including an early power play and a Mason McTavish takeaway that turned into a near miss for Frank Vatrano. They also pressed six-on-five for nearly three minutes, but ended up eating a bagel for dinner just the same, thanks in no small part to their futility with the extra man.
“They were tearing us apart with seam passes and our power play couldn’t make a tape-to-tape pass,” said Cronin, asserting that the final score could have been more lopsided.
Max Jones had drawn a penalty and the Ducks went to work on their one of four power plays they had at some point in the second period. Jamie Drysdale erupted across three zones and four defenders to put a backhand bid on goal, but two minutes elapsed and the Ducks still trailed 2-0.
Five seconds past the halfway mark of the game, Arizona extended its edge to two goals. Matias Maccelli whirled and twirled about the left faceoff circle, threading a seam pass to Crouse on the opposite side for a one-timer that nicked Gibson’s glove en route to the back of the net.
“That pass Maccelli made to Crouse on the backdoor was incredible. We had a guy standing there and he was staring at the puck,” Cronin said. “Maccelli had gotten checked multiple times before he came off the wall and spun, so, that, to me, was a reflection of how hard they wanted to win the game.”
Earlier in the second stanza, the Ducks earned a power play and it was nearly negated by one of the more ridiculous calls of a campaign that hasn’t been short on absurdity. Arizona forward Nick Bjugstad high-sticked his own teammate, defenseman Matt Dumba, but the officials assessed a four-minute penalty to Ducks winger Ryan Strome. The penalty was rescinded upon review but the Ducks did not convert on their opportunity.
The match began with an early delight for the home crowd when Trevor Zegras made three dazzling dekes that moved the puck under defender Michael Kesserling’s stick, creating a shot at the net front on a rush where there was very limited space from the blue line inward. Kesserling then got drilled into the boards by Jones.
Yet it was the visitors opening the scoring, on the power play and off a broken play, at 7:38. An errant pass near the left faceoff dot gave the Ducks a chance at a clear, but the puck pinged around in the corner until it found Alex Kerfoot’s stick. He centered the puck for Nick Schmaltz, who one-touched it to Keller for a one-timer from the right circle.
“We played really good,” Arizona coach André Tourigny said. “That’s a team on the other side, like I said before, they work really hard, they play well, they put you through adversity and you need to react well.”