In their first must-win game of these playoffs, the Ducks will have to make an abrupt about face from Game 3 in order to even their best-of-seven, second-round series in Sunday’s Game 4.
They receded into the special-teams doldrums that too often defined this regular season and plagued them constantly during their non-playoff campaigns. They also generated mostly insipid even-strength offense and were outmuscled far too often by the Vegas Golden Knights.
“They just outbattled us,” defenseman Jackson LaCombe said. “They won more puck battles than we did. They played physically. We’ve got to be better next game.”
The Ducks gave up a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal in Friday’s 6-2 loss at Honda Center. Aggregately, they’ve lost the series 10-6 so far, but with three combined empty-net goals for the two teams. With a goalie between the pipes, they are down 8-5, the same deficit they’ve accumulated on special teams, where they’re behind 3-0.
The Ducks had the NHL’s top-ranked power play in Round 1, cashing in on a jaw-dropping 50% of their opportunities with the extra man. In Round 2, they have gone 0 for 11, allowing Vegas to ascend to the top spot on the league’s penalty-kill leaderboard.
LaCombe, who had nine points in Round 1 to lead all defensemen, has slipped behind Minnesota’s Quinn Hughes after LaCombe registered just one point in three matches against Vegas. A third of his production on the way to eliminating the Edmonton Oilers in the opening round came on with the man advantage, and LaCombe said that he and the Ducks’ PP units still felt confident.
“We just have to adjust and find new ways, that’s part of having a good power play. We have the guys to do it,” LaCombe said.
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Veteran winger Chris Kreider, who scored his team-topping 50th career playoff goal in garbage time Friday, said each game was its own entity. Much as Vegas shifted momentum after looking like the lesser team during a split of Games 1 and 2, the Ducks would have to respond as the series progressed.
“They did a good job advancing pucks, getting behind us. We needed to be a little more connected with our zone exits and advancing pucks up ice,” Kreider said. “They made some adjustments and had a good game, so we have to do the same.”
Despite some equivocation after Game 3 regarding his Game 4 starter, Ducks coach Joel Quenneville told reporters Saturday that Lukáš Dostál would return to the Ducks’ net Sunday after being pulled Friday. Quenneville also indicated that high-priced pivot Mason McTavish (healthy scratch) would be back in a lineup that effectively featured five fourth-line players in Games 2 and 3, while captain Radko Gudas (lower-body injury) was nearing a return to the Ducks’ blue line.
Vegas captain Mark Stone sustained an apparent lower-body injury late in the first period of Game 3 and did not return to the ice save for a brief test skate in the second period. Not only did Vegas bench boss John Tortorella not provide an update postgame, he feigned as if he still hadn’t spoken to the trainers Saturday before revealing his real rationale.
“I’m gonna tell you guys,” Tortorella told reporters at the team hotel. “I’m not gonna give you any updates on injuries, so you might as well stop asking that question.”
For the Ducks’ part, they have yet to lose consecutive games this postseason. They bounced back from a Game 1 defeat at Edmonton by beating the Oilers in three straight to take command of the series and rebounded from a hard-luck Game 1 loss with an even stronger performance during Game 2 in Vegas.
“Even through the year, we would go through (long) winning streaks and then (long) losing streaks, and there were so many different lessons to be learned. At times, we weren’t necessarily absorbing all the lessons, but now I think we’ve proven how good our ‘A’ game is,” Ducks winger Troy Terry said ahead of Game 3. “What I’ve been most proud of is how mature our team has been in some of these games.”
NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Who: Vegas (up 2-1) at Ducks
When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Honda Center
TV: ESPN