Costly Mistakes Sink the Ducks

The Ducks have lost their fifth straight game at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 at Wells Fargo Center last night.

The Flyers have now won eight of their last ten games and now sport a 19-19-7 record with 45 points, just five points out of a playoff spot in the East. Even after a 6-0 loss to the Bruins in Boston, the Flyers looked energized and took advantage of a struggling Ducks team.

On the other hand, the Ducks have lost seven of their last ten games, including a heartbreaking overtime loss to a very good Pittsburgh Penguins team the night before. In their current five-game losing streak, the Ducks are giving up an average of 5.6 goals per game. In those five games, they have played three teams in the top ten for goals scored per game, the Boston Bruins (1st), Edmonton Oilers (4th), and the New Jersey Devils (6th). Not to mention they also played the Penguins, who are ranked 13th. Either way, it was expected that the worst defensive team in the league (4.18 goals against per game) would give up many goals in that stretch.

That defense was put on full display in this game as well. Philadelphia struck first when Max Comtois had a wide open lane to skate the puck out of the defensive zone or clear it, but instead stood still and stick-handled it for almost three seconds when James van Riemsdyk stole it, and the next thing you know, Kevin Hayes fires it in the back of the net.

Despite the shot totals being 17-4, the Ducks escaped the first period only down 1-0. The Ducks had a little bit of momentum going for them at the beginning of the period, but then they took three penalties and gave the Flyers a lot of good scoring chances. Anthony Stolarz stood on his head in the opening period and kept the Ducks within one.

The Ducks would tie it up in the second period when John Klingberg found himself in front of the net and patiently waits for Adam Henrique to come down the slot, which froze the Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson and Henrique one-times it in for his 15th goal of the season.

An NHL-leading ninth shorthanded goal for the Flyers gave them a 2-1 lead. The Flyers would respond while shorthanded when Scott Laughton fed Rasmus Ristolainen on the breakaway and backhands it past Stolarz. Trevor Zegras gave up on the backcheck and coasted once he hit the blue line entering the defensive zone, and that allowed Ristolainen to receive the pass without challenge. I am not sure if Zegras interrupts the pass if he keeps skating, but it definitely makes it harder for Laughton to find Ristolainen.

Philadelphia would tack on another in the dying seconds of the period when Morgan Frost scored a highlight-reel goal. Frost was camped in front of the net when the puck squirted towards him from behind the net, and he quickly goes between the legs and roofs it to make it 3-1 Flyers.

Just two and a half minutes into the third, Simon Benoit turns the puck over in the defensive zone to Wade Allison, who feeds Laughton to set up a quick two-on-one, and Laughton finds Hayes, who buries it for his second of the night to extend the lead to 4-1. Another Ducks turnover in the defensive zone that immediately resulted in a goal.

With a little over a minute to play in the game, Frank Vatrano deflected in a shot from the point from Kevin Shattenkirk on the power play to bring the score within two. Vatrano snapped an 11-game scoreless streak to make it 4-2.

The Ducks then pulled their goalie for the extra skater, but it was short-lived as Hayes completes his first career hat trick on an empty net goal from his own blue line to put the nail in the coffin 5-2. That was the sixth hat trick allowed by the Ducks this season, which leads the NHL by two, according to statmuse.com. If the Ducks keep this up, they should look into a Lids sponsorship because it seems they might be good business for the Ducks.

Takeaways

Stolarz looked pretty good once again in his third appearance since coming back from injury, stopping 34-38 and having 0.70 goals saved above expected, according to moneypuck.com. The defense did Stolarz no favors, so all things considered, it was a solid performance by the Anaheim netminder. In his two other appearances, Stolarz had a 16-save shutout relief appearance against a Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl lead Edmonton Oilers and a 37-save victory over the San Jose Sharks. Hopefully, Stolarz continues to find ice time to give John Gibson some rest and possibly improve his trade value for the upcoming trade deadline.

Another positive was Adam Henrique staying hot and finding the back of the net for the third straight game and his sixth goal in his last ten games. The 32-year-old (soon to be 33 in February) veteran is having an excellent season for Anaheim as he is on pace for 27 goals this season which would be good for second highest in his career.

The Ducks got increasingly better throughout the game from an expected goal standpoint, getting 0.21, 0.50, and 0.64 xGF in the first, second, and third periods. As nice as it is getting better as the periods go on, the Ducks need to start the game with more than just a measly 0.21 xGF if they want to stay in the game.

A lot of problems for the Ducks this season have been self-inflicted, and it has cost them big time this season. The Ducks are the second most penalized team in the NHL and also have the third-worst penalty kill in the league. The Ducks also took five penalties in this game, including three in the first period alone.,

The Ducks will continue their road trip with a stop in Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Thursday. This game will have some meaning because only one point separates the Ducks and Blue Jackets for last place in the NHL. The Chicago Black Hawks are tied with the Blue Jackets for last place, and they also play on Thursday. The Ducks can take sole possession of last place and have the best odds for the Connor Bedard sweepstakes if they lose to the Blue Jackets in regulation and the Blackhawks win. But with 37 games left for the Ducks, there is plenty of time to catch last place.

Ducks vs. Blue Jackets on Thursday will be at 4:00 p.m. PST.