The Ducks are back in action tonight for the midway point of a six-game homestand, hosting the Minnesota Wild at Honda Center.
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Anaheim has dropped both of the first two games of the extended home set, a 4-2 defeat to Chicago Sunday followed by a 5-1 setback to Vancouver a couple nights later. The Ducks claimed an early 1-0 lead Tuesday over the Canucks on a power-play goal by defenseman Olen Zellweger, but they would not be able to build on that advantage as the reigining Pacific Division champs took control late in the first period.
"We had a pretty good start and then they got one right away on their power play," Ducks captain Radko Gudas said. "They got another quick one there again, but I thought we played pretty solid throughout the whole first period and then in the second we got away from our game plan. We just couldn’t get going, couldn’t get quick shifts, and we got stuck out there in the defensive zone and that continues throughout the whole second period. I think that’s what got us off our rhythm, so it carried all the way through the third period."
"It was a pretty good flow to the first period," agreed head coach Greg Cronin. "I think both teams kind of traded rush chances, there wasn’t a lot of offensive zone time for either team. They got the power play goal and then the goal shortly afterwards...You could feel the bench get deflated a little bit. But then the second period was kind of a replay of [Sunday], we turned the puck over, didn’t get it deep."
The loss moved Anaheim to 4-6-2 on the season and 2-3-0 on home ice. The six-game homestand still includes matchups with Minnesota, Columbus, Vegas and Detroit.
"I still thought in the third period we had an opportunity, it was a 3-1 game," Cronin said. "We either ran out of gas or they had higher-quality scoring chances. We weren’t really able to get to their net."
Zellweger provided the only Anaheim offense in the game's opening minutes, feeding a shot from the point through traffic and in for his second goal of the season. The 21-year-old continues to take on an increased role, skating over 19 minutes in each of his seven appearances while pacing Ducks blueliners in points and goals.
"Zelly was great [Tuesday]," Cronin said. "He’s a young kid. He competes. He’s up and down the ice. He’s fearless and he’s confident. He doesn’t care what the score is. He plays to win every shift. That’s what I really admire about him."
The Ducks now turn their attention from one of the Western Conference's top teams to another, taking on a Wild squad currently chasing the division rival Winnipeg Jets for the best record in the NHL.
Minnesota kicked off a three-game road trip last night with a 5-2 win in San Jose, improving to 6-1-1 in away games this season.
"I like the mindset that we came to the meeting with. I thought that we played tighter," Wild coach John Hynes told NHL.com's Max Miller postgame. "I thought we managed the puck well. There was more physicality to our game, and I thought, throughout, it was consistent. We didn't have a lot of lapses."
A team long known for its defensive prowess, the Wild have their offense clicking on all cylinders early in the new campaign - currently eighth in the NHL in goals per game while star winger Kirill Kaprizov's 24 points are second-most in the league.
Minnesota (9-2-2, 20 points) sits second in the Central Division.
