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The Anaheim Ducks lost the second game of their weekend back-to-back last night, falling 5-3 to the Florida Panthers.
Glenn Gawdin entered the lineup for his first game with the Ducks, while John Gibson got the start. The Ducks were also facing former defenseman Josh Mahura, who was claimed off waivers by the Panthers just before the start of the season.
It was a pretty rough opening frame for the Ducks, giving up 17 shots. They got into some penalty trouble midway through the frame and Florida capitalized, with Carter Verhaeghe tipping in a point shot from Brandon Montour. Anaheim did get some chances as the period went on but they still exited the frame down a goal.
Montour put Florida ahead by two early in the second period, as Brandon Montour just threw the puck on net and it got through traffic to beat Gibson. However, the Ducks responded shortly after, as Adam Henrique tipped in a shot from Ryan Strome to cut the lead in half. Then only 27 seconds later, Troy Terry made an entry with control and got it to the front of the net, where Kevin Shattenkirk was able to send it over to Strome who scored into the open net, tying the game.
Florida ended up taking the lead back early in the third period though, with Sam Reinhart burying a loose puck in front. Then later, Eetu Luostarinen got to a puck off the end boards and put in in front to Sam Bennett, who capitalized to extend the lead. The Ducks were outshot pretty badly through the frame and while Isac Lundestrom did score on a penalty shot with just over a minute to go to make it interesting, Sam Reinhart added an empty netter in the last second of the game, leading to a 5-3 Panthers win.
Anaheim relied on goaltending for a second game in a row, giving up 48 shots in the loss. Between the two games of their back-to-back this weekend, they gave up 100 shots total and have averaged 40.5 shots against per game so far this season, which leads the league.
On the bright side, Anaheim did manage 35 shots of their own and were generating some chances, even if they weren’t the better team. They also continued to show that they can battle back after getting behind. Perhaps the other positive were the reverse retro jerseys and the combination with orange pants, which looked great.
While Josh Mahura didn’t have a huge role and played just 14:19 in the game for Florida, his regular spot in the Panthers' lineup is a reminder that it still seemingly would’ve been worthwhile for Anaheim to keep him on the roster. The Ducks’ defense group is already weak, so there’s no reason to not give the opportunity to a 24-year-old with some upside.
Anaheim’s next game will come on Wednesday, when they face the Minnesota Wild.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
Islanders beat Blackhawks, extend winning streak to four games
Ducks fall to Canucks following high-scoring third period
Ducks battle back to beat Sharks in shootout 
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