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The Ducks’ Trevor Zegras, center, attempts to get past the defense of the Blues’ Mackenzie MacEachern, left, and Niko Mikkola during Wednesday’s game at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Sonny Milano (12) of the Anaheim Ducks takes a dive with Mike Hoffman (68) of the St. Louis Blues right behind him in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Goalie John Gibson (36) of the Anaheim Ducks pushes out the puck to teammate Kevin Shattenkirk (22) after blocking a shot from Ryan O’Reilly (90) of the St. Louis Blues in the third period in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The Ducks’ Max Comtois, left, can’t get the puck past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington during a pileup in Wednesday’s game at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Max Comtois (53), right, of the Anaheim Ducks gets a shot past goalie Jordan Binnington (50) and Ryan O’Reilly (90) of the St. Louis Blues to score a goal in the second period in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Max Comtois (53) of the Anaheim Ducks reacts after scoring a goal in the second period against the St. Louis Blues in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Troy Terry (61), John Gibson (36) and Ryan Getzlaf (15) of the Anaheim Ducks work to get control of the puck in the first period in a game against St. Louis Blues in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Kevin Shattenkirk (22) of the Anaheim Ducks and Kyle Clifford (13) of the St. Louis Blues battle for the puck during a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Goalie John Gibson (36) of the Anaheim Ducks reaches out to get control of the puck during a game against the St. Louis Blues in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
ANAHEIM — The Ducks sure didn’t play like a team that hadn’t won a game since Feb. 11. They didn’t seem fragile or timid or unsure of themselves when they faced the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday at Honda Center, seeking their first victory in eight games.
In fact, the Ducks skated confidently, purposefully, and they did it for almost 60 minutes.
But since it’s always something with these guys, they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Blues because their penalty-killing units, the strength of their play so far during this lost season, failed them. St. Louis scored three times on the power play, once in each period.
“It seems like a moving target right now,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said after the skid was extended to 0-6-2. “You plug one hole and something else starts leaking. I can’t question our team’s effort. The effort was there. Guys played extremely hard for 60 minutes.
“Our penalty-kill going into the game was top (seven) in the league and we weren’t able to get it done, and that’s what ended up hurting us. Five-on-five we were very, very good. Our power play still needs to be better, but we at least had a couple of looks there.”
Zach Sanford gave the Blues a 3-1 lead at 13:08 of the third period with their third man-advantage goal, after the Ducks’ Jani Hakanpaa was penalized for tripping at 11:29. The Ducks were the better team at even strength, but that did them little good by game’s end.
St. Louis built a 2-0 lead with power play goals by Oskar Sundqvist in the first period and by Brayden Schenn in the second. The Ducks went into the game with the NHL’s seventh-best penalty kill (85 percent), but they were 0 for 3 while shorthanded Wednesday.
“Of course it’s frustrating,” Hakanpaa said. “You lose a lot of games in a row, you feel like you’re in the games, you’re having a lot of good stretches out there and somehow you can’t come out on the winning side of things. It is tough, I’m not gong to lie. We’ve got to stick with what works and stick together. We’ve got to just trust the process and keep grinding.”
Trevor Zegras recorded his first NHL point in his fifth game since being recalled from the AHL, assisting on Rickard Rakell’s goal that cut it to 3-2 at 19:52 of the final period. Max Comtois scored his team-leading ninth goal at 14:13 of the second period, assisted by Troy Terry and Ryan Getzlaf.
For Getzlaf, he’s two assists shy of 700 for his career.
St. Louis swept all four games this season at Honda Center by a combined score of 18-8.
The Ducks probably deserved a better fate in this one, however. They carried the play for extended stretches and had several chances to erase the Blues’ two-goal lead, none better than Jakob Silfverberg’s shot that clanged off the crossbar in the closing moments of the second period.
The Ducks outshot the Blues by 29-21, a sign they were doing many things right.
Any deviation from the game plan now would be counterproductive, according to Eakins.
“The chances we’re seeing, the posts and the crossbars, if there were no chances, I would think it would be a much harder thing to stomach,” he said. “But when you’re getting those looks in a game, like we had tonight, to go try to do something differently is usually a very, very bad plan.”
Eakins shuffled his lineup after a 5-4 loss Monday to St. Louis, giving it a younger and more skillful look for Wednesday’s rematch with the Blues. Nicolas Deslauriers and Derek Grant, two veteran grinders, were scratched, replaced by the more creative Terry and Danton Heinen.
Terry started the game on right wing, forming a line with left wing Comtois and center Getzlaf. Heinen, the subject of trade rumors last week, skated on left wing in Deslauriers’ spot, joining center Sam Steel and right wing David Backes, who also returned to the lineup.
Eakins kept his defense pairs intact again, mainly because he hasn’t had a choice lately because of injuries to Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson, his top tandem last season. Lindholm has been sidelined for five of the past six games. Manson has played only three games so far.
The changes to the lines paid dividends in the second period, when Getzlaf fed a pass through the slot for Terry, who was left uncovered near the right goal post. Terry’s close-range shot was saved, but Blues goalie Jordan Binnington failed to secure the rebound.
Comtois skated into the crease and smacked the puck behind the goalie to cut the Ducks’ deficit to 2-1 at 14:13 of the second period. Silfverberg nearly tied it before the end of the period, but Sanford’s power play goal proved to be the back-breaker in the third.
“I think the biggest frustrating thing for everybody is the one-goal games and finding a way to get on the other side of it,” Eakins said. “You’re right there. You’re knocking on the door. We’ve got to find a way to keep one or two out of our net or score one or two (more).”
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