Game Notes: Ducks Clip Wings, Spoil Gibson's Return

Here are my notes from a Ducks 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings. I have broken this up into three sections: “Pluses” (positives from the game), “Minuses” (negatives from the game), and an “Open Ice” section for overall thoughts and random notes.

Pluses

• Mason McTavish

  • McTavish was brilliant offensively in this game. True, his goal came off of a defensive miscue by Detroit, where two Wings defenders' collided, but few players could have so forcefully capitalized with a far-side shot the way McTavish did there.

  • McTavish’s has added new dimensions to his offensive game. The puck protection along the wall has always been there, and it was on display again tonight. It’s the rush game that seems to be coming along, though.

  • On one sequence, McTavish attacked on his off-wing, slipping the puck under the defender’s stick. lowering his shoulder, and driving into inside ice. It was a perfect encapsulation of McTavish’s game: physical power blended with finesse.

  • Late in the third period, he picked up an errant pass, pulled the puck through his own skates, then fired off a backhand that led to an offensive zone faceoff. The shot itself wasn’t the most dangerous, but that creative, open-ice stickhandling hasn’t been commonplace in his game throughout the years. We may be witnessing his coming of age in the NHL.

• The Blueline

  • Simply put,, the Ducks’ blueliners were great tonight. Here’s some quick hits:

    • Olen Zellweger: What more can I say about this guy? The end to end rushes, the change of direction moves deep in the offensive zone…he’s doing it all right now.

    • Jacob Trouba: He made an instrumental defensive play on the Ducks’ second goal, stymieing a Red Wings rush, which allowed Anaheim to turn the play the other way. A really solid night of work for him.

    • Pavel Mintyukov: Effective all over the ice and much more structured in his own zone. Some nice breakout passing as well.

    • Ian Moore: I can’t get enough of watching this player. He does everything well. Really have to wonder if he makes other guys expendable down the line.

• Kreider’s Return Pays Dividends

  • Net front goal to salt the game away? That’s Kreider for you.

• Carlsson and Terry’s Rush Offense

  • Carlsson and Terry connected on a beautiful passing sequence early in the game to give Anaheim the lead. I don’t love their chemistry in cycle situations, but the rush is money for them.

Minuses

• Beckett Sennecke

  • Sennecke continues to make the same mistakes each game. He continues to turn the puck over in dangerous locations. He continues to get out-muscled along the boards. But when you take a bad boarding penalty like he did…the leash has to get shorter. He does not look NHL-ready on most shifts.

Open Ice

• Nikita Nesterenko’s Penalty Killing

  • Nesterenko made some key plays on the PK late in the game, whether it was delaying a clearance to kill more time, or using his reach to disrupt the Detroit breakout.

• Gauthier on the Power Play

  • Gauthier was featured in the right circle as a shooter, and he took full advantage of it, firing at will. If he can build a passing counter-move — maybe a shot pass — he could be lethal from there.