The Anaheim Ducks dropped a tough one last night to a very good good Columbus team. The Blue Jackets skated away with a 4-2 victory in Adam Henrique's debut for the quack attack.
Henrique spent most of the game feeling his way around the ice in a new jersey. He did manage to make several good plays, including a nifty second period stretch pass to spring Kevin Roy on a breakaway. Roy scored five-hole for give the Ducks a 2-1 lead. It was Henrique's first points of many (hopefully) as a Duck.
The Jackets fought back to tie the game later in the same period and tacked on two more (1 ENG) in the third for the win.
I don't usually gripe about the refs but this game seems a bit lopsided with call after call going against Anaheim. While apparent Jackets infractions went largely unnoticed it felt like every ticky-tack call went against the good guys. As a result the Ducks spent a good chuck of time on the penalty kill. They did what they could in holding Columbus back, killing 6 of 7 penalties, including a lengthy 5-on-3 in the third period.
And of course Anaheim didn't help themselves any by going 0-for-4 with man advantage.
The lack of calls seemed to frustrate the Ducks all night and by the third period the game deteriorated into a chippy slog-fest. Oh well. We move on to play another day.
Cam Fowler scored the Ducks only other goal and John Gibson had 27 stops in the loss.
The Ducks fell to 11-11-4, three points out of the wild card and four points behind SJ for third in the Pacific Division.
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Now onto Nashville.
What to watch for:
- The Preds lost a couple of nights ago to Vancouver. That seems like a bit of a blip on the radar because they are an impressive 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
- The Ducks are really up against it, with this being the second night of a back-to-back with a less than health roster. Factor in Anaheim's lack of success at Bridgestone Arena (18-10-2-3 all-time) and they really have their work cut out for them. The Ducks haven't won a regular season game in the honkytonk since 2015.
- Nashville is another team that could very easily erupt for five or six goals. They are led by Filip Forsberg with 13 goals and 26 points. And have four other players with at least 17 points. The Ducks have two, Rackell and Perry.
- Kevin Roy has three points (2g 1a) in his last two games. He's the Ducks hottest player and pleasant surprise when they need it the most.
- The Ducks are 1-4-1 in the last six games.
- Adam Henrique has a point in every game since being traded to the Ducks. Okay, one game is a small sample size, but we need something positive to hang our hat on these days.
Thanks for reading, Steve