Alexander: Quenneville’s roster decisions were key to Ducks’ Game 4 win

ANAHEIM — Never fear, Ducks fans. The chessmaster is here.

When Joel Quenneville was introduced as the team’s new coach last May 8, most of the anticipation centered on his ability to take a young team and mold it into a contender. Little did we know that one year later he not only would have guided those youngsters into the playoffs but would have them in the thick of the fight – and would be pushing the right buttons in a conference semifinal.

For two straight games, left wing Mason McTavish watched from the press box as the Ducks won Game 2 in Las Vegas and lost Game 3 – in embarrassing fashion, boat-raced in a 6-2 loss. Similarly, Olen Zellweger and Ian Moore were biding their time.

All three were active Sunday night and had a hand in Anaheim’s 4-3 victory to even its series with the Golden Knights. Moore, named the game’s third star, scored early in the third period for a 4-2 lead when he took a pass from Cutter Gauthier at the right point and hesitated for a moment before unleashing a shot that sailed past the right arm of Golden Knights’ goalie Carter Hart.

“It’s big for the team, you know,” Moore said. “It was a great shift, and much credit to those guys that are screening and creating chaos in front.

“So … yeah, it was big.”

Zellweger got the second assist on that play. He was a plus-2 on the night while playing on the Ducks’ penalty kill, while Moore was a plus-1 in just 8:27 of playing time. McTavish was on the ice for 11:25 overall and 3:43 of power play time, including both Ducks’ goals with the man advantage, won six of 11 faceoffs and was a plus-1.

And considering that what had been an ineffective power play in this series came to life Sunday, with two goals in four tries after starting the series 0 for 11, maybe McTavish’s presence helped.

Long considered one of the franchise’s rising stars, important enough that the Ducks signed him to a six-year, $42 million contract extension last fall, he’d had one goal and three assists in this postseason, after scoring 17 goals with 24 assists in 75 regular season games, before being a healthy scratch for Games 2 and 3.

McTavish was not made available to the media after Sunday’s game, but as Quenneville described it, his approach to watching rather than playing was exactly what a coach would want.

“I thought he had a heck of a game,” he said. “It’s not easy for him to not be in the lineup, and then to play the way he did shows his character. He wanted to be a big part of it. He was in a lot of ways, not just the power play. I thought he played a real solid game.

“I think it’s important that the guys that don’t play, their attitude around the team is very important to the success and longevity of playing playoff hockey,” Quenneville added. “Everybody wants to play, and everybody wants to play more, and you get a little bit deeper, and then things can become, you know, (a) disturbance.

“But I think this group here has been really diligent all year long. Tim (Army, assistant coach) does a good job with the guys, skating ’em and keeping them fresh and keeping them more than ready, and the guys have been accepting that. And it’s part of being a great teammate. And I think you need everybody to contribute in that way.”

Adaptability helps, too.

Moore, picked 67th overall by the Ducks in the 2020 draft, played four years of college hockey at Harvard before turning pro this season. He played 67 games with the big club after starting the season with the AHL San Diego Gulls, and he basically split his time in Anaheim between forward and defense, last playing on the back line April 1 at San Jose.

Moore is “a high character kid,” Quenneville said. “I mean, as high as you want to get. Harvard, he learned a lot of good things there. And at the same time, his approach is to do everything as well and hard as he can the right way. I think that’s why we trusted him up front.

“Having that flexibility in a game like tonight, and (being) comfortable doing it, says a lot.”

Sunday night, he was paired on defense with Zellweger, who was playing his first postseason game.

“We played a little bit together in the past,” Zellweger said. “You know, he’s got poise. … I think we play off each other well.”

There almost certainly will be more chess moves as this series goes on, with Quenneville matching wits and line combinations with Vegas’ John Tortorella. And it may mean a lot, or it may mean nothing in the course of an individual game, but Quenneville is second on the career playoff coaching victories list, with 127 following Sunday night’s victory, trailing only Scotty Bowman (223). And Quenneville does have three Stanley Cup rings, all with the Chicago Blackhawks.

(For the record, Tortorella has 62 playoff victories – 22nd on the list – and one Cup, with Tampa Bay in 2004.)

So what other moves might we see from Quenneville as the series moves back to Las Vegas for Game 5 Tuesday?

Defenseman and captain Radko Gudas, who has been out with a lower body injury since Game 1 of the Edmonton series, participated in the morning skate Sunday but was scratched. At some point, he’ll be ready, and the lineup will be shuffled yet again. Veteran forward Frank Vatrano, a veteran of 34 playoff games over four previous seasons with Boston, Florida and the New York Rangers, has been a healthy scratch throughout these playoffs so far with no indication if that will change.

But the postseason is about adjustments, and reacting to what the other guy throws at you. And if you’re obsessed with or merely curious about such moves, this series is about to get even more interesting.

jalexander@scng.com