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The Anaheim Ducks have opened their road trip with two straight wins, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime on Tuesday, before handing the Boston Bruins their first loss of the season last night.
Against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Ducks struggled to stay out of the box in the first period, and ended up giving up the game’s opening goal to Emil Bemstrom on Columbus’ third power play of the frame.
Then while the Ducks did have a better second period, with Ryan Strome was able to tying the game, the Blue Jackets took back the lead in the third period, as Adam Fantilli scored with a good shot on a rush to fool Lukas Dostal.
At that point, it seemed a little like Anaheim may have a hard time catching up. Over their prior outings, the Ducks were putting together pretty good efforts, but really struggling to finish, so there wasn't a ton of optimism.
But with under five minutes to go, the Ducks were able to respond, as Brett Leason buried a pass from Ross Johnston to tie things up at 2-2, sending the game to overtimr.
In the extra frame, Zach Werenski had a great shot that went off the post, before then being robbed on a glove save by Dostal. However, after being stopped on one opportunity, Frank Vatrano got a second chance only shortly after, taking a great pass from Bo Groulx to go down ice on a breakaway and beat Merzlikins, winning it for the Ducks.
Then against Boston last night, the Ducks opened the scoring late in what was a really solid first frame. However, the Bruins stormed back in the second period, with two quick goals to take the lead early in the frame, before David Pastrnak beat John Gibson to make it a 3-1 game through 40 minutes, in a period where the Ducks let their foot off the gas a little.
The Ducks then really couldn’t get a ton going in the first half of the third period, with Boston having a few good chances to put the game out of reach. However, Anaheim stayed in it, and Leo Carlsson was able to cut the lead to one with an empty net, just as a power play expired. The Ducks kept pressing, and with only 15 seconds remaining, Troy Terry just threw the puck on net, and it took a deflection in front and got past Linus Ullmark, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, once again the Ducks were able to find a way to win, as Carlsson fed a pass to Mason McTavish on an odd-man rush, who beat Ullmark to secure the Ducks’ second straight win.
Coming into their road trip, the Ducks were at just 1-4-0, so just in their record itself, the wins are big to keep the team somewhat competitive in the standings. But more so, Anaheim being able to battle back to tie it late on both occasions continues to set the tone that this is a different team.
Last year, it seemed like if the Ducks fell behind, it was pretty unlikely they were going to get back into it. This was both from just a sheer lack of offense, but also a low compete level. But early on into this season, there’s more intensity and buy-in from just about everyone on the roster, in addition to the increase in talent.
Leo Carlsson has been great for the Ducks, and you see how much more dangerous the team is with him in the lineup. Meanwhile, Mason McTavish has pretty clearly taken a step, and Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome are each providing a much more significant impact early on.
Trevor Zegras has yet to really find his game, and was benched for the end of the Columbus game, but perhaps that says even more about the Ducks’ performance, getting by without a top forward producing.
Obviously, goaltending plays a huge factor as well, and both John Gibson and Lukas Dostal have been key to the Ducks’ wins. But while Anaheim may have been a little sloppy defensively at times against Boston, it’s still a massive development in terms of how much better the team has been for reducing quality chances.
Who knows, the Pacific Division has been so bad early on that if the Ducks are able to get on a bit of a roll, they could find themselves with a shot at a meaningful games at the end of the year. With so many of their top stars being players early in their careers who are only going to get better, the Ducks look like a team who could surprise a little this season.
Regardless, the pair of wins are a massive bright spot for Anaheim. They’ll be back in action tomorrow, as they continue their road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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
- Ducks fall short against Coyotes in 2-1 loss
- Ducks showing signs of improvement despite poor record 
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