Anaheim Ducks Fight to the Finish Against Washington Capitals

Despite the 3-2 loss, the Anaheim Ducks fought to the finish against a tough Washington Capitals team.

The rivalry between the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals has reached its boiling point this season. Following their November 18th game in Washington, which included 58 penalty minutes between the two teams and the infamous “spit gate” incident, we knew that things were about to get interesting with the Caps coming into our territory.

Sometimes You Have to Throw Caution to the Wind

With the 5-2 loss still somewhat fresh in their minds, the Anaheim Ducks came out overtly cautious. They were so worried about keeping the Caps from scoring, they looked sluggish whenever they had the puck. Their passes weren’t connecting and there were moments when they looked like they had forgotten how to skate altogether.

It was no surprise when the Capitals lit up the board first. Carl Hagelin threw the puck in front and Travis Boyd scored a goal from an incredibly tough angle off the hip of Ryan Miller. With a one-goal deficit staring them in the face, things would take another rough turn for the Anaheim Ducks when Nick Ritchie went down. He left the ice, unable to put any weight on his left leg, after a hip check from Capitals defenseman, Radko Gudas. This would set the course for a game that was about to get out of control.

Once they got over their jitters and threw caution to the wind, new life was breathed into the Ducks. Hagelin would serve an interference penalty late in the period, sending the Ducks to the power play. For the first time this season, the PP looked like it could compete with the top teams in the league. While they didn’t score, the team had several good chances and sustained pressure.

Back in the Game

It was a huge surprise when the first period ended and Erik Gudbranson had yet to exact his “revenge” on Garnet Hathaway. However, as the second period commenced, it was less than five minutes later that Gudy threw down the gloves and challenged Hathaway.

The linesmen broke them up, and both were sent to the sin bin. Gudbranson would serve an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Capitals another beautiful opportunity to pull ahead on the power play. Evgeny Kuznetsov beats Miller, five-hole, making it a 2-0 game.

Less than four minutes later, Nicolas Deslauriers challenges Radko Gudas. Both players drop the gloves and Deslauriers walks away the clear winner, getting a little taste of revenge after what happened to Ritchie. The two teams combined would end the period with 50 penalty minutes in a 20 minute period. Of course, this was not before the Anaheim Ducks scored their first official goal of the night!

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Sam Steel had scored a goal earlier in the period, but upon review, the goal had been overturned due to Cam Fowler being offside during the play. The Ducks’ first goal would put them back in the game, and it was scored by none other than Ryan Getzlaf. Troy Terry got his stick on a rebound off a shot from Adam Henrique, kicking the puck out to the slot. Getzlaf roofs it past Braden Holtby, scoring a big goal for Anaheim.

Fighting in More Ways than One

Leading into the third period, the Anaheim Ducks were only down by one goal. They continued to put pressure on the Capitals, and it would be just 0:45 into the final 20 that Adam Henrique would tie the game. After some line juggling due to Ritchie’s absence, Ryan Getzlaf would set up Henrique, and he fired a wicked wrister, top shelf, ending his 15 game goal-scoring drought. Less than a minute later, a bad turnover from Brendan Guhle would allow Jakub Vrana to net his own rebound, giving the lead back to Washington.

And then, the moment we had all been anticipating since “spit gate.” Erik Gudbranson, once again, drops his gloves and this time, Garnet Hathaway responds. The refs allow the two players to duke it out this time, and hopefully, as Gudbranson said in his post-game interview, the two players can put this feud to bed. Both were sent back to the sin bin, the two hotheads sharing 32 PIM on the night.

Unfortunately, the Ducks were unable to tie up the game, and the Vrana goal would win it for the Capitals. However, there were a lot of positives to take away from this game. The power play looked better than it has all season. If Eakins continues to make that a focus, it will definetly boost the numbers for their special teams.

The Ducks didn’t lose for lack of trying. In fact, these are the kind of losses you walk away feeling slightly confident about. They sustained good pressure throughout the game despite their slow start. Despite being down two goals, they found a way to get back in the game, even with the added stress of constant line juggling. An added bonus, they kept “the Great 8” Alex Ovechkin from scoring, which is a pretty great accomplishment considering he had 5 shots on the night and 20 goals this season.

If there is one thing we can take away from this game, it’s that the Anaheim Ducks haven’t lost their fighting spirit, in more ways than one. While the Ducks aren’t expected to be contenders, hopefully, this is a stepping stone to instill more confidence in a team that really needs to break the bad habit of constantly being self-defeated.

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