Anaheim turns into Ugly Ducks

By
Michael Finewax,

By
Michael Finewax

Published January 14, 2019 12:32 AM

The Anaheim Ducks continued their losing ways on Sunday as they went to the dressing room losers for the 11^th straight game in a 4-3 overtime loss to Winnipeg.

You have to wonder if Randy Carlyle’s job is on the line as the Ducks have gone from playoff contenders to playoff pretenders as they are 0-7-4 in their last 11. The funny thing is, the Ducks were the hottest team in the NHL previous to this as they had gone 9-1 in their previous ten.

But it’s a matter of what have you done for me lately, and lately Carlyle’s Ducks have been waddling along on a bad streak. They are tied for the last playoff spot in the weaker Western Conference but their minus-28 goal differential is sixth worst in the NHL. They have also scored the second-least goals this season but are still first in the Los Angeles area as the Kings are the only team with less than the Ducks 112 goals.

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After the game, GM Bob Murray actually put out a statement stating that he was not considering a coaching change.

Interesting.

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CAROLINA 6 NASHVILLE 3

Sebastian Aho had the hat trick and added an assist to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over Nashville. Aho has five goals in his last two contests. The great game gives Aho 21 goals and 51 points this season as he is establishing himself as a star in the NHL.

Petr Mrazek was in goal for Carolina and stopped 20 shots to improve to 9-9-2 with a 2.67 GAA and .901 save percentage.

Saku Maenalanen potted his second of the season, Lucas Wallmark with his fourth and Justin Williams on the power play, also scored for Carolina.

Filip Forsberg scored twice for Nashville while Colton Sissons potted his 10^th of the season.

Micheal Ferland and Teuvo Teravainen each had two helpers for Carolina. Roman Josi had a pair for Nashville.

Ferland and Austin Watson fought each other in the first period.

Pekka Rinne gave up five goals on 20 shots before he was pulled at the 10:11 mark of the second and Juuse Saros stopped all 13 shots that came his way before Aho’s third of the game went into the empty net.

WINNIPEG 4 ANAHEIM 3 (Overtime)

Ben Chiarot’s fourth goal of the season tied the game in regulation and Bryan Little won it with 11 seconds to go in the overtime as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3.

Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves to win his 20^th of the season. He is 20-13-1 with a 2.87 GAA and a .908 save percentage.

Brian Gibbons opened the scoring early in the first period with his first of the season. It was his 35^th game of the year for the 30-year-old and his 18^th goal in his career in his 160^th game. Gibbons had 12 in 59 games last season.

Rickard Rakell with his sixth of the season, made it 2-0 Anaheim as he scored his first goal in three games since he returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the lineup for five weeks.

Blake Wheeler cut the lead in half before the end of the first with a power play goal, his ninth goal of the season.

Patrik Laine tied the game at two with his 25^th of the season but only his fourth since the beginning of December. Andrew Cogliano gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead before the end of the season with his third goal of the season.

John Gibson made 30 saves in taking the overtime loss. He is 15-14-8 this season and if not for his stellar play all season, the Ducks would be wallowing at or near the bottom of the standings.

Carter Rowney assisted on all three Anaheim goals while Daniel Sprong had a pair of assists.

COLUMBUS 7 NEW YORK RANGERS 5

Nick Foligno scored a pair of goals to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a wild 7-5 win over the New York Rangers Sunday and handed the Rangers their sixth straight defeat.

Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson each had a goal and an assist while Lukas Sedlak, David Savard and Anthony Duclair also tickled the twine for Columbus.

Sergei Bobrovsky had his first start since he was disciplined on Thursday for an incident that the Blue Jackets would not reveal. He was the backup Saturday and made 22 saves while giving up five goals Sunday in getting his 19^th win of the season.

Mats Zuccarello scored twice for New York while Ryan Strome, Chris Kreider and Jimmy Vesey also scored.

Alexandar Georgiev gave up all seven goals on 40 shots as he started his second game in a row.

Ryan Murray had a pair of assists.

Panarin was a plus-four while Atkinson and Pierre-Luc Dubois were each a plus-three.

VANCOUVER 5 FLORIDA 1

Loui Eriksson scored once and added a pair of assists as the Vancouver Canucks upended the Florida Panthers 5-1.

After a scoreless first period, Eriksson scored the only goal of the second with his eighth goal of the season.

Frank Vatrano tied the game at 1, 5:29 into the third period with his 13^th of the campaign but it was all Vancouver after that as Ben Hutton scored the winner with his fifth of the season. Brock Boeser with his 15^th, had the insurance goal with 2:17 left in the third into the empty net, as did Jay Beagle. Markus Granlund completed the scoring with Roberto Luongo back in the net as he scored with 11 seconds remaining.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots for the win, his 18^th of the season. He had given up nine goals in his previous two starts so this effort should get him back on track.

Roberto Luongo, the former Vancouver netminder, got the start for Florida and made 31 saves.

Eriksson was a plus-four Sunday.

Micheal Haley had a five minute major for fighting and then picked up a misconduct penalty after Granlund’s goal, along with Josh Leivo and Colton Sceviour.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS 5 TAMPA BAY 1

The New York Islanders scored three first period goals and went on to defeat the top-ranked Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1.

Brock Nelson with his 16^th, Cal Clutterbuck and defenseman Devon Toews each with their third of the season, completed the first period scoring as the Islanders had all three by the 4:43 of the opening stanza.

Casey Cizikas scored in the second period to make it 4-0. Ryan McDonagh scored the Lightning’s only goal to end the second.

Josh Bailey scored the lone goal of the third period to restore the four-goal margin, into the empty net.

Thomas Greiss was outstanding Sunday in shutting down the Lightning as he turned aside 38-of-39 shots. He is 13-8-1 with a 2.62 GAA and a .918 save percentage.

Andrei Vasilevskiy took the loss as he gave up four goals on 27 shots. He is 18-5-2 with a 2.55 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

Matt Martin had a pair of assists.

Ondrej Palat had seven shots on goal.

CALGARY 7 ARIZONA 1

Mark Giordano continued his quest for the Norris Trophy as he scored twice and assisted on another in a 7-1 whipping over the Arizona Coyotes.

Matthew Tkachuk also scored twice and Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett also found the back of the net.

Mike Smith picked up start and stopped 22 shots for his 13^th win of the season. He has lost the starting gig to David Rittich and had given up 15 goals in his previous four games over the last month, on only 99 shots.

Jordan Oesterle broke up Smith’s shutout bid with his fourth of the season, as he scored on the power play with only 16 seconds left in the second period.

Adin Hill had his troubles Sunday, giving up all seven goals on only 26 Calgary shots.

Conor Garland was the only Arizona player not to be a minus-player as he was even. Alex Goligoski and Oesterle were each a minus-four.

Giordano and Brodie were each a plus-five while Frolik was a plus-four.

Ilya Lyabushkin had seven hits for Arizona.

Nightly Leaders

GOALS

Sebastian Aho - 3

Filip Forsberg - 2

Mats Zuccarello – 2

Nick Foligno – 2

Mark Giordano – 2

Matthew Tkachuk – 2