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| 7:00 PM PT8:00 PM MT9:00 PM CT10:00 PM ET2:00 GMT10:00 7:00 PM MST9:00 PM EST6:00 UAE (+1)22:00 ETNaN:� BRT, March 17, 2023 Honda Center, Anaheim, California Attendance: 13,475 |
Struggling Ducks, Jackets look to finish off season strong
Columbus Blue Jackets at Anaheim Ducks
- The Ducks have won seven of their last eight games versus the Blue Jackets, including a 5-3 win in Columbus on January 19. But Anaheim has not scored a power-play goal in its last 12 games against the Blue Jackets. It's the second longest current PPG drought by one NHL team against another, behind the Ducks' own 15-game PPG dry spell versus the Hurricanes.
- The Blue Jackets have allowed at least four goals in each of their last six games. (Columbus is 1-4-1 over that span.) It's their longest such streak since a seven-game run in April 2021.
- Kirill Marchenko scored the Blue Jackets' only goal in their loss to the Kings last night. Marchenko leads all rookies with 17 goals since December 6, when he made his NHL debut. No other rookie has scored more than 12 goals since that date.
- The Ducks' 6-3 loss to the Islanders on Wednesday was the 17th time they allowed six goals or more in a game this season (all losses, by an aggregate score of 109-37). It's the most such games by an NHL team in one season since the Penguins had 17 in 2003-04.
- Kevin Shattenkirk scored two goals in the Ducks' loss to the Islanders. It was the sixth two-goal game of the defenseman's NHL career and his second for Anaheim. Shattenkirk's other two-goal game for the Ducks was also in a loss (Oct. 19, 2021 at Edmonton, 6-5).
- Trevor Zegras has recorded at least one point in 24 of the 31 games he's played since January 1, after doing so in only 17 of his 37 games this season through December 31.
In a long season for both the Blue Jackets and Ducks, the two struggling teams will try to create some late positives when Columbus visits Anaheim on Friday.
The Blue Jackets (21-39-7, 49 points) have the fewest points in the NHL, while the Ducks (22-36-10, 54 points) rank 30th among the 32 teams.
It seemed as though the Ducks were getting into some kind of good form when they recorded points in eight of nine games (5-1-3) heading into a Tuesday matchup with the New York Islanders. Anaheim held a 2-1 lead through the first period before allowing the game's next five goals in an eventual 6-3 loss.
"We've taken some really great strides, but tonight we took a step backwards," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. Pointing to how the Ducks had success when they "played in behind" opponents' defenses in their previous two games, Eakins felt the strategy was abandoned against New York.
"We decided that we were just going to skate through them," Eakins said. "And we turned the puck over and we turned it over again and again. We just couldn't come out of it."
The Ducks had 23 shots against the Islanders, continuing their recent difficulties in getting the puck on the net. In 11 games since Feb. 21, Anaheim is averaging a league-low 24.8 shots per game.
Columbus is 1-4-1 in its past six games, including a 4-1 road loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. A scoreless game was suddenly blown wide open in the second period, when the Blue Jackets conceded four goals in 9:04 of ice time.
The Kings' flurry chased Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov from the game, but Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson felt Tarasov "didn't deserve what ended up coming his way."
"(Tarasov) was tremendous at the start at the start, he made some tremendous saves," Gudbranson said. "We turned some pucks over at the blue line and it (came) back to bite us."
Michael Hutchinson stopped all nine shots faced in 26:02 of play, and the unexpected relief outing likely won't impact Hutchinson's planned status as Friday's starter. Playing on consecutive nights, the Blue Jackets were expected to split starts between the two goaltenders.
Columbus is 3-8-2 in the second half of back-to-backs this season.
Kirill Marchenko scored the Blue Jackets' only goal on Thursday. Marchenko is the third rookie in Jackets history to reach the 17-goal mark in his first NHL season, and he is well within reach of Pierre-Luc Dubois' team rookie record of 20 goals.
Anaheim backup goalie Lukas Dostal is the probable starter Friday, as John Gibson is expected to get a break after playing in eight of the Ducks' past 10 games. Dostal is 3-5-2 with a 3.90 goals against average and an .898 save percentage over 11 games this season.
Forward Jakob Silfverberg is questionable for Anaheim's lineup after missing practice Thursday due to illness.
The Ducks won the first meeting against the Blue Jackets this season, coming back from a 3-0 deficit for a 5-3 comeback win in Columbus on Jan. 19. Dating back to March 2018, the Ducks have seven wins in their past eight games against the Blue Jackets.
--Field Level Media
Updated March 17, 2023
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