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The Anaheim Ducks dropped their second game in a row this afternoon, falling 2-1 to the Arizona Coyotes.
Adam Henrique returned to the Ducks’ lineup, replacing Max Jones on a line with Bo Groulx and Jakob Silfverberg, while Leo Carlsson remained up on the top line. Meanwhile, Lukas Dostal made his second start of the season.
Despite Anaheim putting together a pretty good opening frame and not surrendering many chances at even strength, they took some late penalties, and Arizona capitalized. With about two minutes to go in the period, Jason Zucker was able to put a one-timer through Lukas Dostal, and the Ducks found themselves down after 20 minutes.
In the second period though, Anaheim was able to generate quite a bit of momentum as they pressed to get on the board, only to be stopped on a couple good saves by Karel Vejmelka, while also missing the net on other great chances in-close. But despite the Ducks arguably getting the better chances in the second period, it was the Coyotes who struck again, as Clayotn Keller ripped a wrist shot past Dostal to put Anaheim down 2-0. So despite Anaheim outshooting Arizona 17-10 in the frame, they headed to the second intermission in a bit of a hole.
The Ducks were then forced to kill a couple penalties early in third period, but after finding a way to do so, they got a power play opportunity of their own shortly after. On the man advantage, Jakob Silfverberg found Frank Vatrano with a cross-crease pass, who managed to beat Vejmelka to pull the Ducks within one.
But while Anaheim did press late to tie it with the net empty and spent much of the last minute or two in the Coyotes’ end, they weren’t able to get any really strong chances, and Arizona held on for the 2-1 win.
Once again, it’s a situation where Anaheim put together a pretty good game, just couldn’t finish the job.
The Ducks threw 33 shots on goal, and while not all of them were necessarily high-danger, this was a pretty even game and Anaheim had a good shot to win if a couple bounces went differently.
Frank Vatrano also picked up his fourth goal of the season, while Leo Carlsson continues to fit in perfectly on the top line. As a line, Carlsson, Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry outshot their opponents 7-3 while on the ice together at even strength (according to NaturalStatTrick.com) and were all counted on in a big way, each playing over 21 minutes, and looked strong again.
Speaking of ice time, Pavel Mintyukov has already established himself as a key part of the defense group, playing almost 24 minutes today. The defenseman played by far the most of any defender on the team at even strength. While it's typical for it to take a bit for a defender to adjust to the NHL, it's pretty wild how seamless Mintyukov's transition has been right from junior hockey to the NHL.
The game also got pretty chippy, which I guess shouldn’t be a huge surprise after some of the Ducks' additions. Ross Johnston got into a fight with Liam O’Brien in the middle frame, and we saw big hits and scrums. It’s not necessarily a crucial part of the game, but I think at times the Ducks just lacked some intensity last year, and that hasn’t been the case this season.
Lukas Dostal also put together a pretty strong game, stopping 25 of 27 shots. The first goal was a little weak but overall, you can’t complain much about his performance. At times in recent years, it’s seemed like John Gibson starts to struggle when his workload gets too large, and I think it’s not a bad idea to continue using both of the netminders going forward, even away from back-to-backs.
So despite the Ducks being 1-3-0 to start the year, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a disappointing start. They were right in the last two games and for the most part, the effort has been there.
Development of young talent is more important than wins this season, and I think there’s a lot to be excited about, despite the Ducks’ record to start the year.
They’ll be right back in action tomorrow night for the second half of a back-to-back, as they face the Boston Bruins.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Ducks sign Trevor Zegras to three-year contract extension
- Ducks sign Jamie Drysdale to three-year contract
- Ducks finalize season-opening roster, claim Ross Johnston from Islanders
- Ducks split back-to-back to begin season with loss to Vegas, win over Canes
- Leo Carlsson scores in NHL debut as Ducks come up short against Stars 
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
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