ANAHEIM — Given the chance to build momentum coming off their first regulation win of the season, the Ducks squandered the opportunity and fell flat against the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators scored three power-play goals in a 5-1 victory over the Ducks on Friday afternoon at Honda Center, in a meeting between the teams with the worst records in the NHL. They play each other again next month in Ottawa and next seem destined to run into each other in the 2023 NHL draft lottery.
The Ducks (6-14-1) had gone 19 games without a win in regulation before breaking through on Wednesday night against the New York Rangers. They’ve won back-to-back games just once this season.
“It’s hard … we’re a young team, but we have a lot of guys in here who are starting to realize how hard it is to win in this league,” Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “You come off a win against a team like the Rangers that you feel is a big win for your team that can maybe get your sparked.
“You come in against Ottawa and it shouldn’t matter where a team is in the standings or what you might think the team is based on their past two or three years. Every night it’s going to be hard to get a W in this league. We’ve seen that the entire first quarter of the season.”
For the younger players, it’s one thing to hear about how difficult it is to string together wins. But experiencing a season like this is a different matter.
“Absolutely,” Shattenkirk said. “You don’t become an experienced player just by listening to the guys who’ve played longer than you. It’s something you have to endure. It’s something you have to work through. Last year, us going through a full 82-game season for a lot of our young guys was a new challenge for them. This year, I think we’re finding we don’t surprise teams anymore. I think we rode that wave a little bit last year.
“Now teams are ready for us.
Mistakes proved costly again. The Ducks were close to getting out of the first period trailing by one goal but they gave up a late one when a turnover by Trevor Zegras at the Senators’ blue line led to an Ottawa goal off the rush, finished off by Derick Brassard at 18:19, making it 2-0.
“The first period was going well,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “An ill-advised turnover. We talked about it a million times, how important it is to play deep at the end of your shift. I thought that changed the complexion of the game.
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“In the end, that game came down to special teams – 5-on-5 there wasn’t a whole lot going on for either group. But their power play got it done. Ours did not. Their penalty kill got it done. Ours did not. … I thought through most of that first period, right until the end, we were all feeling pretty good.
“Everything was good and then it was like a dagger in the heart. An ill-advised play that puts you down a couple and those are hard to come back from.”
The Ducks’ penalty kill has struggled for most of the season and was ranked 31st of 32 teams in the NHL heading into Friday’s game – ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks.
Brady Tkachuk, Brassard, Tim Stutzle and Mathieu Joseph and defenseman Artem Zub scored for the Senators, who had lost three straight coming into Friday’s game.
Brassard and Joseph each had three points, and goaltender Cam Talbot made 31 saves. He was less than three minutes from recording his first shutout of the season when Ducks forward Max Jones scored with 2:50 remaining. The Senators challenged for goaltender interference but the goal stood.