Ducks @ Lightning RECAP: Thunderstruck

After losing a 4-0 lead to the Florida Panthers in a 5-4 overtime loss, the Anaheim Ducks hoped for a strong performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning to salvage the road trip. Anaheim welcomed Hampus Lindholm back to the lineup while scratching Nicolas Deslauriers, Michael Del Zotto, and Josh Mahura. Ryan Miller got his lone start of this journey in net.

First Period

Cory Conacher was sent to the penalty box for tripping Sam Steel, but Anaheim could not capitalize. The Ducks outshot the Lightning 13-8 in the first period, but the home team would score first on a bit of a fluky play. Conacher found Jan Rutta, who took a shot that glanced off Miller. Brayden Point then buried the rebound.

Near the end of the stanza, Erik Gudbranson was whistled for tripping Ryan McDonagh. However, Nikita Kucherov’s pass took a fortunate bounce off a linesman and that resulted in the tying goal for who else but Derek Grant.

Second Period

Anthony Cirelli dumped the puck into the Anaheim zone and retrieved it behind the net before finding Kucherov all alone in front to make it 2-1 in favor of Tampa Bay. Alex Killorn would receive the secondary assist.

Rutta was called for hooking Rickard Rakell, and the Ducks would score immediately after the power play ended. Fowler passed to Ryan Getzlaf who found Rakell for the tying goal.

Unfortunately, Lindholm would get the gate for hooking Kucherov and Point ended up with his second of the night. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped the puck behind his own net and left it for Victor Hedman, who pushed the puck ahead for Point. His shot squirted past Miller and it was 3-2 Tampa Bay.

That wasn’t all for the period, either. Ducks fans are probably tired of seeing Patrick Maroon succeed in other uniforms, but he would score on a rebound after Mikhail Sergachev found Cedric Paquette who uncorked a shot from long distance. Just like that, Anaheim trailed 4-2.

Third Period

Maroon received a high-sticking penalty for hitting Carter Rowney, but the power play was wiped out prematurely due to Troy Terry’s slash against Hedman. Hedman found Kucherov for a slap shot, and Cirelli scored on the abbreviated man advantage after whacking at the puck in front.

With less than five minutes left, a fracas resulted in penalties to Cirelli, Erik Cernak, Nick Ritchie, and Korbinian Holzer. Ritchie would also receive a misconduct, and the result gave the Lightning their final power play. Naturally, they would convert. Yanni Gourde slid the puck to Kevin Shattenkirk for a long blast, with Ondrej Palat putting home the rebound to make it 6-2.

Other than a skirmish at the buzzer between Grant and Maroon, that would do it for this one. The Ducks are now 1-5-3 in their last nine games, with the lone win coming against the defending champion St. Louis Blues. While the underlying numbers make this one seem less lopsided, the Lightning converted all three of their power plays while the Ducks went scoreless on their own trio of opportunities. The defeat drops Anaheim’s record to 10-11-3.

By The Numbers

Shots on Goal – ANA: 38 TB: 27

5v5 CF% – ANA: 56.79% TB: 43.21%

High Danger Chances For – ANA: 7 TB: 10

Heat Map and Stat Card below

**All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

**Stat Card courtesy of hockeystatcards.com

3 Stars (as voted by the media)

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy - He made 36 saves and generally frustrated the Ducks.

2. Brayden Point - Two goals on four shots is a pretty efficient night.

3. Anthony Cirelli - Registered a goal and an assist.

Next Up

The Ducks return home to take on the New York Islanders on Monday, November 25 at 7:00 PM Pacific Time.