Ducks vs Canadiens RECAP: Well, That Was Fun

The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night in a game that was supposed to be a positive playoff push for the Habs and a continuance of a tanking season for the Ducks. Instead, Ducks fans were treated to an offensive breakthrough for the ages that ended up with the Ducks putting eight (yes, eight) pucks past Carey Price to give the Ducks an unbelievable 8-2 victory.

There really wasn’t a part of the game that the Ducks did not play well. The goaltending from John Gibson was fantastic, which has become an expectation anytime he is between the pipes for the Ducks. The defense played well enough, but really didn’t have to do too much since the Ducks were pushing the pace in Montreal’s zone for a majority of the sixty minutes. And the offense...well, yeah. Eight goals.

One interesting note that I saw from the scoresheet after the game: Ryan Getzlaf was the only forward on the Anaheim Ducks that did not record a point in the game. All eleven other forwards recorded at least one point, with five of those forwards having a multi-point game.

(Three of the six defenseman on the ice also recorded at least one point in the game as well)

Best & Worst

Best

Power play - The Ducks power play may have only finished 1-for-4, but the puck movement on the power play looks significantly better and more effective than it did for the first half of the season. Troy Terry has contributed largely to this turnaround, as he is already making himself known as a player with incredible vision and the ability to spot plays developing.

The Kids - Max Jones scored his first career NHL goal with ten seconds left in the game, relieving himself finally of the monkey that had been on his back seemingly since his last call-up from the San Diego Gulls. He has played extremely well for Anaheim since being called up, and he had yet to be able to find the finishing touch until he ripped a puck past Carey Price late. Troy Terry also had his second consecutive three point night, and Jacob Larsson contributed with two assists of his own. The future is bright and Ducks fans are getting a nice treat to see what the next few seasons in Anaheim may look like.

John Gibson - Lost among the offensive outburst for Anaheim is the fact that John Gibson played a really incredible game against the Canadiens. There were many times where the Canadiens could have begun climbing back into the game had it not been for Gibson’s timely saves. The 3rd period started with the Ducks up 5-2, but Gibson facing seven or eight consecutive shots from Montreal before the Ducks got their first shot of the period. A 5-3 or 5-4 lead would have drastically changed the offensive approach that Anaheim took to the remainder of regulation.

Worst

Nothing - That’s right people. I said it. Nothing wrong with a performance by the 2018-2019 Anaheim Ducks. Put this one in the books.

3 Stars of the Game

3. Adam Henrique - 2 G

2. Max Jones - First career NHL goal

1. Troy Terry - 1 G, 2 A