Anaheim Ducks Storm Back, Beat Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Overtime

The Anaheim Ducks ended their two-game losing streak by overcoming a two-goal deficit in the third period and defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in overtime. It was the Ducks’ 23rd one-goal win and 33rd win overall of the NHL season, and it took quite the comeback for the Ducks to earn this win.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks opened the scoring early in the second-period, just 37 seconds into the frame. Ryan Getzlaf threaded a pass to his linemate Corey Perry, who got a shot in on Anton Khudobin, who made the initial save. However, Perry batted his own rebound past the netminder to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. It was his 20th goal of the season. The goal came from a turnover by Jordan Staal to Getzlaf, and Andrej Sekera couldn’t stop Perry from getting the shot or rebound off. Getzlaf, with the assist, recorded his first point since the All-Star break.

However, the Hurricanes would tie the game near the halfway mark of the second period. Alexander Semin got a pass from Victor Rask, who got a stick on a loose puck to the right of Frederik Andersen. Semin got the puck and fired a shot between the legs of Eric Brewer and past Andersen at the 9:24 mark of the second to tie the game at one. The $7 million per year winger netted just his second goal of the season, and his first since December 4th.

The Hurricanes would then take a lead just about two minutes later at the 11:41 mark. Sekera dumped the puck in, while Elias Lindholm threaded a pass to Jay McClement, who shot the puck past Andersen to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. Matt Beleskey had a body on him, and the pass was in the area of him, Cam Fowler, and Getzlaf, but McClement met little resistance and fired the puck pats Andersen for his second goal of the season.

However, the Ducks would equalize just 2:40 later on a power-play. Jiri Tlusty was sent off for a holding minor against Kyle Palmieri (one of his two minors on the night). Palmieri was the one who took the puck from the boards and passed back to the point to Hampus Lindholm (no relation to Elias of the Canadiens). Hampus skated to the middle of the ice before firing a shot that Ryan Kesler tipped past Khudobin for a goal at the 14:21 mark. The goal was Kesler’s 14th of the season, and his 33 points are third on the team.

After two periods, the Ducks had a solid advantage in shots (24-15), but the start of the third period was near-catastrophic for the Ducks. It started when Beleskey and Getzlaf took simultaneous penalties against Jordan and Eric Staal, respectively just 17 seconds into the third period (Beleskey for hooking, Getzlaf for interference).

The Ducks managed to kill the two-minute 5-on-3, but Brad Malone intercepted a lazy pass from Fowler and had a breakaway before Fowler interfered with his shot. On the ensuing penalty-shot, Malone converted the attempt to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead at the 4:01 mark of the third period. It was the fifth goal of the season for the speedy Carolina forward.

Just a minute and nine seconds later, the Hurricanes extended their lead to 4-2. Eric Staal took the puck from the skates of Kesler and fired a shot, which Andersen stopped. However, the rebound fell directly to his brother, Jordan, who fired the shot past Andersen at the 5:10 mark of the third. The goal was Jordan’s second of the season. After having a three-game point streak (five assists) snapped on Saturday, he recorded a goal. The Hurricanes were 7-4-2 in the games he’d appeared in this season prior to this one, as opposed to 10-22-4 without him (he broke his leg in the preseason).

However, the Ducks would begin to storm back once again. Ben Lovejoy got the puck to Jakob Silfverberg, who skated back to the point and hammered a shot on net that Devante Smith-Pelly deflected past Khudobin to cut the deficit to one goal at the 9:31 mark of the third. It was Smith-Pelly’s fifth goal of the season and first since December 1st, a dry spell of 20 games (not including healthy scratches, and he was scratched for four more games).

The Ducks would then tie the game with just 4:08 left in regulation. A Getzlaf pass found Sami Vatanen after deflecting off the sticks of Jeff Skinner and Ron Hainsey. The initial bid by Vatanen was stopped, but Perry pounced on the rebound and shot one past Khudobin to tie the game at four. It was Perry’s 21st goal of the season and second of the game, and with it, he broke a tie with Kesler to move alone into second place on the team’s scoring.

In overtime, it didn’t take long for the Ducks to end it. Getzlaf passed the puck to Perry as he entered the offensive zone. Perry, instead of shooting for his third hat-trick of the season, threaded a pass between Rask and Tim Gleason to Getzlaf, who fired the shot past Khudobin for his 16th goal of the season just 45 seconds into overtime.

While the win is great, the Ducks did not play a terrific game, by any means. They outshot the Hurricanes 13-3 in the opening frame and 24-15 in the opening two periods, but eight of those shots were from the Ducks’ three power-plays. The Hurricanes outshot the Ducks 12-11 in the second period and started the third period with an 11-1 shots advantage, eventually outshooting the Ducks 17-5 in the third frame.

What was huge for the Ducks was the penalty-kill. The Ducks took four penalties, all in the third period. The first two were the Beleskey and Getzlaf minors that resulted in a two-minute 5-on-3. However, Lovejoy and Brewer took minors just 17 seconds apart (holding and cross-checking, respectively) to give the Hurricanes 103 seconds of 5-on-3 time. However, Skinner took a tripping minor 27 seconds into the two-man advantage, and the Ducks eventually killed off both minors. The Hurricanes were unable to clear the puck once the Skinner minor had expired, and the result was Perry’s equalizer late in the third.

Next up for the Ducks is a major test to start a five-game road trip on Thursday in Nashville against the Predators, whose 72 points in the standings are tied with the Ducks for most in the NHL. However, the Predators have played 50 games to the Ducks’ 51, meaning they technically have the best record in the league. The two clubs met earlier this season on January 4th, with the Ducks prevailing over Carter Hutton 4-3 in the shootout at Honda Center.

Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in goals (17) and points (45). His 17 goals are also tied for the league lead among rookies with Mike Hoffman of the Ottawa Senators, while his assists (28) and points (45) lead all rookies. Mike Ribeiro has a team-leading 33 assists, while Colin Wilson and James Neal have each chipped in 16 goals apiece as well. Shea Weber, he of the 108.5 mph slapshot, has 11 goals and 35 points on the season while playing 26:25 per night, while his partner in crime, Roman Josi, has nine goals and 34 points with 26:23 of ice time per game.

The Predators boast the second-highest goal-differential in the NHL at +35 (only the St. Louis Blues are higher, at +41). They are sixth in the NHL in goals scored (153) and fourth in goals allowed (118), and they have captured a whopping 41 of 46 points possible at home (20-2-1 record, 89.1% of points won). This will be an incredibly tough test to open the road trip, but it should be a great way for the Ducks to see where they stack up against another one of the Western Conference’s elite teams.