Ducks center Sam Steel (left) shields Minnesota Wild goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen as the puck sails past goal in the first phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
The left wing of the Ducks Nicolas Deslauriers (right) tucks the puck with the left wing of Minnesota Wild, Kevin Fiala, in the first phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Duck goalkeeper Ryan Miller eyes the puck as Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) and Ducks defender Cam Fowler (4) rebound in the first phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center search. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Minnesota Wild left wing Ryan Hartman (left) celebrates a goal with left wing Jordan Greenway in the first phase of Wednesday’s game against the Ducks at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Ducks goalkeeper Ryan Miller blocks a shot by Joel Eriksson Ek of the Minnesota Wild Center in the first phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Minnesota Wild Center Marcus Johansson (left) controls the puck against Duck’s right wing Carter Rowney in the first phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise, right, shoots at Ducks goalkeeper Ryan Miller during the second phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Nick Bonino, 13, of the Minnesota Wild Center is congratulated by his teammates after scoring in the second phase of Wednesday’s game against the Ducks at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Ducks left wing Nicolas Deslauriers celebrates his goal in the second phase of Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Minnesota Wild goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen stops a shot in the second phase of Wednesday’s game against the Ducks at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Ducks center Derek Grant (left) competes for the puck with Minnesota Wild defender Mathew Dumba in the second phase of Wednesday’s game at the Honda Center. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
The Ducks left wing Nicolas Deslauriers (20) celebrates his goal against the Minnesota Wild with center Adam Henrique (14) and other teammates on the bench during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday , January 20, 2021 (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Wild Minnesota goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen (right) defends against Ducks center Sam Steel (center) while Jared Spurgeon (left) in the third phase of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. January 2021, helps with the defense. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (left) fights for the puck with the left wing of Ducks, Sonny during the third phase of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, January 20, 2021 Milano. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Duck Center Sam Steel (23) protects the puck from goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen of Minnesota Wild during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Wild Minnesota goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen (right) saves a shot by Ducks center Danton Heinen during the third phase of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (left) celebrates with defender Jonas Brodin (right) and goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen after Wild lost 3-2 to the Anaheim Ducks in an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, California , on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (AP Photo / Alex Gallardo)
ANAHEIM – It was Ryan Miller’s turn on Wednesday night at the Honda Center. John Gibson carried the Ducks on his back for three games to start the season. He won one, lost one and dropped one in overtime while struggling against an ever-increasing workload.
The Ducks split 2-0 at the start of the second round, rallied to a 2-2 draw at the end of the period and then fell back 3-2 when Joel Eriksson Ek of Minnesota only got a one-off shot 1: 1 scored. 53 in the third. They were mostly outbid and overwhelmed in the first 30 minutes.
The 40-year-old Miller stepped into the game and took two wins to get Dominik Hasek to 14th place on the NHL list of all time. Miller’s 387 wins are most of an American born goalkeeper. He signed a one-year $ 1 million deal to catch Hasek but also to pursue the 400-victory milestone.
Gibson saw shot counts of 29, 33 and 34 on his first three starts, not particularly high numbers but with a compact schedule in a shortened 56 game season it was his night to rest. Miller started and Anthony Stolarz was activated as a backup by the taxi team.
« It was definitely a shock to the system after a long hiatus and no preseason games, » said Miller. “It’s really different when you buckle up your pads and play against another team with two points on the line. There were things that I was happy with and things that I hope I’ll make adjustments to.
“But overall I felt pretty good about my own game and I thought we did a good job as a group in the second phase. It’s just disappointing that we had a small breakdown in the third period and just couldn’t recover. It was a little disappointing. “
As in Monday’s game, the ducks spent the first few minutes defending rather than attacking. Kevin Shattenkirk was punished for staying in the game for just 35 seconds, and that seemed to set the tone for the remainder of an early period in which they were beaten 1-0 and 16-6.
The ducks’ penalty units were healthy again, but their power play largely deserted them late in the period. With the Wilds Matt Dumba in the penalty area for the puck’s airmail into the empty stands, the Ducks gave Ryan Hartman a shorthanded goal at 1:51 p.m.
Minnesota extended their lead to 2-0 when former Ducks center Nick Bonino scored a power play goal in the second half at 5:50 a.m. The Ducks cleverly rallied to win 2-2 at the end of the period and eventually put on sustained pressure, with Nicolas Deslauriers and Cam Fowler scoring less than four minutes apart.
Deslauriers hit a loose puck at close range at 8:58 a.m. for his second goal in as many games. Fowler scored the first goal of a Ducks defender at the beginning of the season and whistled a shot from the right face circle past Minnesota goalkeeper Kaapo Kahkonen at 12:21 p.m.
« They don’t care if the water is hot, scalding or freezing cold, » said Ducks coach Dallas Eakins of the four-line grinders Deslauriers, Rowney and Derek Grant. “You jump in and start swimming as fast as you can. We need that from the whole group.
« This line is a good line for figuring out what kind of energy you need for the game, » he said. « Passion, responsibility, commitment, that’s what it’s all about. You need to remember when you were a kid and how excited you were to play.
« I mean, I don’t even go to the ice rink. I mean, the times you and a couple of your friends the kids were playing street hockey on the street. These games went nasty and they were competitive and you gave all you could.
“The danger in this league is getting used to your career. You sit down and play night after night and see what happens. We need passion. We need commitment. And right now we need that very much from our experienced players. »
Eakins put his second row of Danton Heinen, Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg on the bench for longer stretches to get them moving. It worked, but only up to a point when the ducks’ search for points continued. You have only scored six goals in four games.
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The ducks played without defender Josh Manson, who missed the second and third periods of his 1-0 win over the wild on Monday due to an unspecified upper body injury. Eakins said Manson should be re-examined by the medical team.
Manson’s absence forced Eakins to shuffle his defensive pairs for Wednesday’s rematch. Eakins moved Jani Hakanpaa next to Fowler in Manson’s slot and Andy Welinski was activated by the taxi team to move next to Jacob Larsson on Hakanpaa’s place.
« We’ll see what the doctors say, » said Eakins. « It’s one of those things where a player is usually a big red flag to me every time he doesn’t come back in a game. » I’m doing my best to stay out of this sick room and let the doctors and doctors do their job. »
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