Missed opportunities, a battle-weary goalie and a final assault by nemesis Phil Kessel steamrollered the Ducks and their seven-game winning streak Tuesday night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, on a 10-1-1 run of their own, leaned on a 40-save effort by former Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier and dealt Anaheim a 6-2 defeat that matched the Ducks' most lopsided setbacks of the season.
"Weird game. We had chances — chances and chances — we bury those chances, the game's over," Ducks center Ryan Kesler said.
But after out-shooting Toronto, 31-16, through two periods only to trail by a goal, the Ducks' mounting frustration of repeatedly missing an open net or finding Bernier's glove unraveled into a third period of ugliness.
The Maple Leafs (19-9-3) received goals from David Booth and Nazem Kadri in a 51-second span of the third that knocked goalie Frederik Andersen from his 19th consecutive game.
"It was a collective effort — we can all be better," Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano said. "Yeah, [Andersen] probably wants a few of those goals back, but he's the last guy you can point a finger at. Nineteen games in a row, he's been a horse. He'll regroup."
Compounding the matter, Ducks backup goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had a forgettable return to the organization that drafted him in 2000, suffering a skate malfunction and letting in two Kessel shots.
"I was pretty much fixing my lace and taking the puck out of the net," Bryzgalov said. "You always can find excuses — was the lace loose? — but you're out there to help the team stop the puck."
Kessel, with a team-best 17 goals this season, did the same thing here last season to Anaheim (21-7-5), when a Ducks' seven-game winning streak was snapped in a two-goal Kessel game.
"We'll just move on from this one, go to Montreal [for Thursday's game] and focus on that … we're gonna have days like that," Kesler said.
Toronto Coach Randy Carlyle conceded his team was the beneficiary of favorable events.
The Maple Leafs brushed off a series of Ducks threats near the crease late in the first period, then extended their lead to 2-0 on a goal by former Ducks forward Joffrey Lupul early in the second.
"I don't think we can take that to the bank and say we felt good about ourselves," Carlyle said. "You're holding your breath … you exhale, and say, 'Let's relax a bit.' "
After Lupul's goal, a golden rebound chance was missed wide by Cogliano. Then, Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg missed an opening high and defenseman Hampus Lindholm was stuffed twice by Bernier as a penalty kill ended.
The first career short-handed goal by Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen made it 2-1, but Andersen lost track of Booth behind him 4:37 into the third.
Andersen explained that Booth's shot "hit something and jumped over the pad."
Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said he pulled Andersen to give Bryzgalov his first NHL action since last season's playoffs with Minnesota.
"Big difference is they hit the net on their great chances, and we missed the net," Boudreau said.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Twitter: @latimespugmire
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles TimesAnda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Ducks' win streak ends at seven with 6-2 loss to Maple Leafs
Dengan url
http://penyakitberbahayakan.blogspot.com/2014/12/ducks-win-streak-ends-at-seven-with-6-2.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Ducks' win streak ends at seven with 6-2 loss to Maple Leafs
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Ducks' win streak ends at seven with 6-2 loss to Maple Leafs
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar