Game Notes: Ducks Win a Thriller in Florida
Here are my notes from a Ducks 3-2 shootout win against the Florida Panthers. 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
Resiliency
To put it nicely, the Ducks looked disorganized through the first 30 minutes of the game. It very much felt like a “end of the road trip” type game.
To their credit, the Ducks rallied and played a much stronger late second and then third period. The mistakes that dotted the first half of the game dissipated, replaced by much more sustained offense.
Whether it’s resiliency, “bend don’t break”, stick-to-it-ivness, the Joel Quenneville Ducks do seem to be able to pull themselves out of prolonged bouts of messy play, not letting mistakes completely bog them down. That’s encouraging.
Lukas Dostal
I had Dostal featured in my last Game Notes, but he earned yet another shout thanks to a stellar performance, particularly in overtime and in the shootout. There’s something about making a game winning save in the shootout that he seems to relish, as he always gives a healthy fist pump afterwards. He is an elite NHL goaltender, full stop.
Ian Moore
Ian Moore shone in this one. He plays like a veteran defenseman, despite being an NHL rookie.
Moore is a master of the details. Forechecking pressure? Evade with skating, or move the puck quickly depending on time and space. Loose puck in the offensive zone? That’s an easy pinch to maintain possession, or a calculated retreat.
Forgive the trope, but Moore just “gets it”, with a great mind for the game. Pair that with his above average mobility and puck moving, and there is potentially a regular NHL defenseman for the next decade plus in the waiting.
Mason McTavish
McTavish pulled off a ridiculous move in the shootout. His initial move was so effective that he could have scored on his backhand, but he pulled the puck back onto his forehand and tucked it into the net through the five hole. Nasty work.
The 22-year old doesn’t get enough credit for the work he’s doing this season. Both Beckett Sennecke and Cutter Gauthier are turnover-prone, and McTavish has kept them afloat beyond what one would expect from a still-developing player. There’s long been an unquantifiable leadership trait attributed to McTavish, but this is hard evidence of a guy rising above and making people around him better.
Minuses
Sloppiness
I know, I’m sounding like a broken record. However, the Ducks continue to make a litany of unforced errors night in and night out. Sometimes for prolonged stretches, as we saw in the first half of this one.
It’s difficult to pin down where the mental errors stem from. Lack of urgency? Lack of situation awareness? Truth be told, it’s probably a mix.
Take an example in the second period: Pavel Mintyukov makes a nice play to kill opposing possession in the defensive zone, then turns the play up ice. As he nears his blueline, he tries to dangle the puck through a Panther players’ skate, instead of making the simple chip off the wall to exit the zone. Bang, turnover.
This isn’t to pick on Mintyukov. Multiple Ducks were guilty of similar plays tonight. It’s taking what should be a positive play — a takeaway leading into a breakout — into a negative play, with the risk reward calculation being broken.
Martin St. Louis often talks about how players have to “manage their risk”. Right now, the Ducks are struggling with this. It’s okay to take risks, but there has to be a worthy reward on the other side of that risk. On that Mintyukov play, there was no reward that could outweigh the risk of a turnover in the defensive zone.
This is a young team. These are the lessons they will have to learn to become a consistently winning hockey club. And they can be learned in-season, so let’s see what it looks like 20 games from now.
Open Ice
The Duality of Beckett Sennecke
Sennecke’s game tonight can be neatly split into two categories: along the boards, and not along the boards.
Along the boards, Sennecke struggles mightily, and consistently. He gets pushed off the puck with ease, and he often overhandles the puck along the defensive wall, when a quick play is needed (think about the risk management discussed above). He doesn’t have much of an arsenal along the boards to evade pressure, and when he feels contact, he doesn’t have the strength to maintain possession.
Not along the boards (i.e in open ice), Sennecke excels for the most part. His hands are smooth, and he has a combination of creativity, skill, and vision that is unique on the Ducks roster. It’s why the Ducks drafted him as high as they did.
The NHL game, though, is won and lost along the boards, even in the regular season. Right now, Sennecke looks a ways away from excelling in this area. Thankfully, it should improve simply with added strength and experience, though that will take some time to reach.
Brian Hayward’s Passion
Hayward was fired up in this one. Whether it was Ross Johnston getting double teamed after a whistle, or a phantom penalty call in overtime, it’s not hard to see that Hayward cares deeply about this team’s success. Some may call that homerism, and there’s certainly no disputing who he’s cheering for. But, Hayward balances that with his analysis, and overall, it makes for a very entertaining product. He doesn’t go too far over the line, but shows enough passion to let you know that he cares. It’s more fun that way!