Ducks fall out of first in lacking loss to Blues

ANAHEIM, Calif. – There were ways to talk through the concerns over the last three games, but as the Anaheim Ducks lost their fourth game in a row to fall out of first place in the Pacific Division, there was no way to look around this one.

Anaheim came out firing with a rare game-opening goal, but the Ducks turned sloppy in the neutral zone and loose on the defensive side of the puck, as the non-playoff St. Louis Blues rolled, 6-2, on Friday at Honda Center.

Following a four-game win streak, the Ducks have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and into a points-tie with now first-place Edmonton. The Oilers hold the regulation wins tiebreaker, 30-24, with six games to play.

“We even have a decent start, and then we gave them three goals in the first period that were definitely all our faults,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “They gave us a good education on playing a real solid team game, and we didn’t play with the urgency that was needed and are capable of sustaining their game. We chased the puck a lot.”

After dropping their first third-period blown-lead losses of the season in back-to-back games, including allowing the game-tying and go-ahead goals in the final 99 seconds in San Jose on Wednesday, a bounce back was almost expected from the Ducks.

That was not what Anaheim provided on Friday.

“We lost two really hard, hard games in a row,” Quenneville said. “When I say that, those are tough defeats. I’m not saying that’s an excuse. You should be the opposite (tonight). Disappointed with the response.”

Ryan Poehling scored the opening goal of the game for the Ducks and assisted on Jeffrey Viel’s first-period strike to tie the game, 2-2, but the Ducks could not regain that energy over the course of the game. Lukáš Dostál made 23 saves

“Just urgency, I think,” Poehling said. “Honestly, Toronto, we played great for most of the minutes, and San Jose did the same thing. Just didn’t close it, and then tonight it was just a completely different story… I think it’s just a little bit of urgency to kind of tighten it up and play better on both things.”

The Ducks scored the game’s first goal for just the second time in the last eight games and only the fourth time in the 20 games since the Olympic break. Anaheim has now trailed in all 20 games coming out of the break with a 11-7-2 record in that stretch.

“We got four left at the home here,” Quenneville said, “and we don’t have many games left to get excited, so let’s find a way to take care of our business, and we got a lot of business to take care of here.”

Anaheim (41-30-5, 87 points) fell out of first place in the Pacific Division for the first time since March 15, as Edmonton (39-28-9, 87 points) closed a five-point gap in just over a week. Third-place Vegas (34-26-16, 84 points) sits just three points back.

Anaheim is now even in games played with the Oilers and Knights.

The Ducks continue the final homestand of the regular season with the second half of this back-to-back against Ryan Strome and the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

“We all know that we need what we need to do tomorrow night,” Poehling said.

Concerns for Defense, Dostál

The most glaring issue in the Ducks game on Friday was the defense, as most of St. Louis’ goals simply came far too easy.

Quenneville said the Blues’ first three goals were all the Ducks’ fault, and he’s not wrong.

On the first St. Louis goal, Anaheim got three men back on a rush sequence, but the Ducks just let Robert Thomas behind unscathed for the easy breakaway and finish to tie the game.

“It’s uncontested, and those type of plays can’t happen, especially early in the game,” Quenneville said.

St. Louis’ first go-ahead goal was an open shot that cleanly beat Dostál five-hole, and the Blues’ second go-ahead goal started with a miscommunication between Leo Carlsson and Ian Moore on a loose puck at center ice that became a turnover. St. Louis scored on the ensuing odd-man rush for a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

In filling in for an injured Pavel Mintyukov in the last two games on the left side of a pair with John Carlson, Moore has been out for six of the Ducks last 10 goals against, including three on Friday, and Carlson has been on the ice for nine of the last 10 goals against.

“Moore’s played left D, right D (and forward). Without the left D there, we’ve been trying different things,” Quenneville. “Who’s gonna go on the right, on the left side? And we’re still trying to play around with it, so that’s probably been the biggest issue (with Moore).”

St. Louis’ first goal came on the first shot of the game with another early goal scored on Dostál.

Over the course of the season, Dostál has been generally strong, particularly through most of March. Preface these notes with the fact that the Ducks would likely not be where they are in the standings without the timely play of their goaltender.

However, in Dostál’s last 10 games entering Friday, the 25-year-old Czech netminder had posted a negative goals saved above expected (-1.7 GSAx) – good for 45th out of the 72 NHL goalies that have played at least 10 games this season. Ville Husso has a positive GSAx (+2.0) in his last 10 games – 25th best among that contingent.

Entering tonight, Dostál was 5-4-1 in his last 10 games.

Across his 51 games played before Friday, Dostál is 31st of 72 with +2.1 GSAx this season, and Husso is 35th at +0.4 GSAx in 18 games played.

“Our goaltending has been good all year,” Quenneville said.

Injury Report: Gauthier, Gudas, Mintyukov remain out day-to-day

Anaheim’s injured masses remained out against St. Louis on Friday, as Anaheim once again played without leading goal scorer Cutter Gauthier (upper-body), captain Radko Gudas (lower-body) and defenseman Pavel Mintyukov (lower-body).

All three were making “a little progress," according to Quenneville, but each remained with a day-to-day designation.

It was reported that there was hope for Gauthier to return this weekend, but Quenneville said he is still unlikely to play tomorrow against Calgary.“He’s moving better today,” Quenneville said at morning skate. “Tomorrow, he’d be questionable at best.”

Gauthier left Monday’s game after scoring a goal against the Maple Leafs, but he did not travel to San Jose on Wednesday.

Both Gudas and Mintyukov were first injured last Thursday in Calgary, missed Saturday’s game in Edmonton and returned to the line-up on Monday against Toronto. Both travelled to San Jose, but neither played on Wednesday or Friday.

Troy Terry skipped Friday’s morning skate with another maintenance day, but he again stayed in the line-up.

Jansen Harkins underwent successful hand surgery on Monday and is out for four weeks. Ross Johnston remains week-to-week with a lower body injury.

Playoff Magic Numbers

At (41-30-5) 87 points, the Ducks’ magic number (combined number of points won by Anaheim and lost by the first team out of a playoff spot) to clinch its first playoff berth since 2018 is seven.

San Jose (36-31-7, 79 points) now occupies the final wild card spot in the West in a three-way tie with one fewer game played than Los Angeles (30-26-19, 79 points) and Nashville (35-31-9, 79 points). St. Louis (32-30-12, 76 points) and Winnipeg (32-30-12, 76 points) sit three points back of that group.

If the Sharks won their remaining slate, they would reach 95 points. If the Predators or Kings won their remaining games, they would get to 93 points. If the Blues or Jets won their remaining slate, they would reach 90 points. Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg currently have the regulation wins tiebreaker on Anaheim.

Anaheim’s magic number to clinch the Pacific Division title is 13, with Edmonton capable of hitting 99 points and holding the regulation wins tiebreaker.