3 takeaways from the Anaheim Ducks loss to the Minnesota Wild

The Anaheim Ducks lost to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, by a final score of 3-2. The Ducks may have fallen backwards into a playoff spot with their recent stretch of poor play, but playoff seeding was on the line and the Ducks had something important to play for at least. However, by the end of the game, the final result was much of the same and the Ducks should be worried with the playoffs beginning this weekend.

Playoff maintenance has begun

On the Anaheim side, Ducks captain Radko Gudas was out of the lineup for what the broadcast deemed as a maintenance day but was probably related to his recent leg injury. Chris Kreider was out too with an illness and Olen Zellweger was a healthy scratch.

Minnesota took the maintenance approach to a whole other level though, by resting 10 of their nominal starters. With nothing to play for and their opening round matchup with the Dallas Stars having been penciled in for what seems like months now, there was no sense in having skaters like Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, or Quinn Hughes on the ice for the Wild.

Undermanned but still outplayed

Though the Wild were vastly undermanned on purpose and basically iced their AHL Iowa Wild lineup, the Ducks could not capitalize with a golden opportunity to gain a couple much-needed points in the standings. The Ducks outshot the Wild 37-20, won the faceoff battle with 53 percent, went 1 for 3 on the powerplay, and still lost. Two of the Wild goals were started with plays behind the Anaheim net with the Ducks defense chasing the puck, leaving the scoring threats alone out front.

The Ducks' defense has been questionable all season and while the team has the ability to come back from multi-goal deficits, the playoffs will pose a much more difficult challenge with teams like the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, or heaven forbid, the Colorado Avalanche.

Lost the goaltending battle, again

Lukas Dostal had another bad outing in net, and his slumping play has coincided with the Ducks only winning once in their past nine games. Dostal finished the game with an .850 save percentage and gave up the go-ahead goal on a flubbed shot from former Duck, Robby Fabbri.

On the other side, Jesper Wallstedt was essentially a brick wall, as he stopped numerous high-danger scoring chances from the Ducks. Leo Carlsson was robbed on a breakaway in the second period. Beckett Sennecke was stopped on a rebound early in the third period. With Dostal pulled for the extra attacker at the end of the game, Wallstedt probably made his best save, as he recovered just in time after moving behind the net to play the puck and dove in front a point-blank chance from Cutter Gauthier. Wallstedt finished with a .946 save percentage and was easily the best player for the Wild.

Final thougts

The Ducks have one more dress rehearsal, as they finish the regular season on Thursday night in Nashville against the Predators. If there was ever an opportunity to get a win and enter the postseason with a little positive momentum, the last game is that perfect opportunity. The Ducks playoff opponent might be decided before the Nashville game though, so we shall see how many other Ducks skaters get a break before the postseason begins.

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