Anaheim Ducks Fall 3-2 in Shootout to Washington Capitals

In the second leg of a back-to-back situation, the Anaheim Ducks fell to the Washington Capitals in the nation’s capital 3-2 in the shootout period. The Ducks made another third-period comeback attempt but were unable to net the knockout punch.

The Ducks struck first late in the first-period on the power-play. Alex Ovechkin was in the box for an interference minor against Sami Vatanen. Karl Alzner broke his stick, essentially giving the Ducks a two-man advantage on the play. Eric Fehr went to the boards to try and clear the puck after a Ryan Kesler shot, but was unable, as he had given his stick to Alzner. Instead, Jakob Silfverberg chipped the puck back to Kesler, who snapped a shot past Philipp Grubauer to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead with 1:45 left in the first period. The goal was Kesler’s 15th of the season, and it extended Silfverberg’s point-streak to three games (two goals, two assists).

The Capitals would tie just 4:15 into the second period. Ben Lovejoy tried to clear the puck from the defensive zone, but a fallen Troy Brouwer made an outstanding keep-in with his stick to spring Evgeny Kuznetsov the other way for a 3-on-0. Ilya Bryzgalov went to play Kuznetsov, who passed the puck to Jason Chimera for the goal. It was Chimera’s fifth goal of the season and his first point since January 14th against the Philadelphia Flyers (when he scored the game-winning goal).

The Capitals would then take the lead at the 10:44 mark of the third period. A John Carlson shot whistled wide, which Brooks Orpik kept in the Ducks’ defensive zone. Orpik got the puck to Chimera, and then to Kuznetsov, who found Carlson again in the slot for a shot that beat Bryzgalov to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. The goal was Carlson’s sixth of the season and his 29th point at 5-on-5 play this season, second among defensemen only to Mark Giordano. The young American defenseman should absolutely be in the Norris Trophy conversation this year.

However, the Ducks would tie the game about three minutes later. Kesler took a puck that Nicklas Backstrom couldn’t handle and got the puck to Corey Perry, who got behind the Capitals’ net. A backhanded centering-feed bounced right back to Perry, and his second attempt hit Grubauer and went into the net to tie the game at two. The goal was Perry’s 23rd of the season and his fourth in the past three contests, while Kesler recorded an assist for the third consecutive game. Kesler has five points in his past three contests (two goals, three assists).

Regulation and overtime were not enough to decide the game, so the teams went to the shootout. The Capitals led with Kuznetsov, who had a strong game (two assists, +2, and 18:30 TOI). The Russian rookie got his shot under the stick and through the pads of Bryzgalov to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. However, the Ducks countered with Silfverberg, who fired his signature wrister past Grubauer to tie the shootout. Silfverberg netted his eighth shootout goal this season, which is two more than second-place Nathan MacKinnon. His 12 shootout attempts this season are also the most in the NHL, only ahead of Matt Duchene.

Backstrom went next for the Capitals, and he fired his shot short-side past Bryzgalov to give the Capitals the lead once again. Perry went next, and his shot beat Grubauer but went off the post. Ovechkin went for the Capitals, but he missed high, despite getting Bryzgalov down. Kesler went with the opportunity to extend the shootout, but Grubauer stopped him with the right pad, and the Ducks lost 3-2.

Both teams were fairly sluggish in the contest: the Ducks were in action against the Nashville Predators the night before, while the Capitals faced the Ottawa Senators in Canada’s capital the night before as well. Bryzgalov had a strong game, stopping 32 of 34 shots in regulation and overtime. The Ducks did not do much to support Bryzgalov either: they outshot the Capitals 10-6 in the first period and had a 13-6 shots on goal advantage. The Ducks were then outshot 12-4 in the rest of the second period and 13-6 in the third.

It was not as poor as the 24-2 outpour that Nashville had in the third period on Thursday, but Bryzgalov was tested far more than the team probably wished for. Emerging with a point was probably good for the Ducks, who got a strong outing from Bryzgalov and were competitive, despite the absence of Ryan Getzlaf (who missed the game with a lower-body injury: William Karlsson entered the lineup, while Rickard Rakell centered the top-line once again).

Next up for the Ducks is a game against the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. Tampa has 71 points in 53 games with a 33-15-5 record. They will be on a back-to-back, as they will welcome the Los Angeles Kings to town on Saturday.

Tyler Johnson leads the Lightning in scoring with 51 points and 32 assists. Captain Steven Stamkos has a team-leading 28 goals, while Nikita Kucherov has 18 goals, 45 points, and a league-leading +/- of +29. The line of Johnson, Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat has a combined +/- of +81.

Free-agent addition Anton Stralman leads the Lightning in ice-time per game, at 22:18. His 23 points are tied for the most among Tampa Bay defensemen with Victor Hedman, who plays 22:05 per game (although Hedman has played 20 fewer contests).

The goaltending situation is unclear. The Lightning recently waived Evgeni Nabokov and called up top-prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy. Whether the Ducks will face Ben Bishop or Vasilevskiy is unknown.