the Ducks lost 4-3<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cGoing into your first playoff game, there\u2019s definitely a little bit of nerves. You\u2019re not too sure what to expect,\u201d Gauthier told reporters. \u201cI swayed a little bit from my game plan all season long, and I was happy to reel it back in and get my mindset on the right things to help this team win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauthier moved onto a line with Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry, who carried the Ducks offensively in Game 1. He also contributed to a special-teams feast. The Ducks have cashed in on three of five power plays in the series, the best conversion rate of the young postseason, in addition to killing all six penalties they\u2019ve taken against the league\u2019s top power play and scoring a shorthanded goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe (penalty killers) did a helluva job. They had a hard time entering the zone, which was something we were really trying to focus on,\u201d Ducks goalie Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l told reporters. \u201cThe guys blocked shots and were in good position, they covered the middle really well because obviously, throughout the regular season, they had the best power play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet the Ducks found themselves on another rollercoaster ride after Game 1\u2019s string of lead changes, as they led 3-1 and then 4-2 before having to break a 4-4 tie and tack on an empty-netter, Ryan Poehling\u2019s second goal of the night.<\/p>\n
Alex Killorn\u2019s breakout on the scoresheet with three points and Jacob Trouba\u2019s goal gave them more tangible contributions from seasoned vets this time around, though both Trouba and Killorn had turnovers at the defensive blue line that led to goals as well.<\/p>\n
Captain Radko Gudas, who battled injuries for much of the season and down the stretch, was unable to go in Game 2. He was replaced by Drew Helleson, who played a game-low 7:52, but it was enough time for Leon Draisaitl\u2019s centering feed to become an own goal off his skate.<\/p>\n
While Draisaitl has been impactful with two goals and two assists thus far, Connor McDavid has been all but invisible, standing out for all the wrong reasons on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He turned in a careless turnover that turned into a shorthanded goal. In the series, he has no points and -2 rating after topping the NHL in scoring with 138 points during the regular season. He also had an injury scare when he got caught up with teammate Mattias Ekholm, though he returned to Game 2 and will be available for Game 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants the team to do well. He\u2019s a leader and usually when we have success, he\u2019s a big part of that,\u201d said Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch, who also stewarded McDavid as a junior player. \u201cThere\u2019ve been stretches during the season that he hasn\u2019t been the best player, nights where he hasn\u2019t been outstanding. That doesn\u2019t happen very often, and I\u2019m certain that he\u2019s going to find his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND GAME 3<\/p>\n
Who: Edmonton at Ducks<\/p>\n
When: 7 p.m. Friday<\/p>\n
Where: Honda Center<\/p>\n
TV: TNT, truTV, HBO Max, Victory+, KCOP (Ch. 13)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Settle in for a long ride, because this series could go the distance. The scene of the Ducks\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2210,233,5292,1739,5,4,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-558453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim-ducks","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheimducks","11":"tag-ducks","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-nhl-playoffs","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116455778861544459","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}