ANAHEIM — All it took was three shifts with skilled linemates in his third NHL game for Nikita Nesterenko of the Ducks to realize one of those long-held ambitions, the dream of every young hockey player.
Scoring a goal in the NHL.
One of those linemates, rookie center Mason McTavish delivered a pinpoint pass from between the circles to Nesterenko, who was stationed at the right side of the net, shooting it between St. Louis defenseman Torey Krug’s legs and into the wide open net.
Nikita Nesterenko gets his first NHL goal. pic.twitter.com/0TpupicP4z
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 26, 2023
“He’ll never forget that one and I think anytime you’re a teammate, or a coach … those are always feel-good moments like a kid’s first game the other night,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “He scores and that’s another huge one. So that’s about the only positive from tonight. For whatever reason, we wanted to get into a track meet. And we’re just not built to outscore our mistakes.”
It was a mostly desultory night for the Ducks, who gave up goals early and often in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at Honda Center. Not only did the Ducks suffer their fourth straight loss but they played the third period without their second-leading scorer Troy Terry. Terry, who left in the second intermission, was not injured but dealing with a personal matter, according to the Ducks.
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They were up 2-1 in the first period before allowing five consecutive goals to the Blues, who rallied to take a 3-2 lead by the end of the first and added two more goals in the second and another in the third.
Forwards Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Colton Parayko each had three points for the Blues. Ducks goaltender John Gibson made 30 saves.
The other Ducks goals were scored by Terry on the power play, his 21st of the season, at 1:46 of the first and Ryan Strome, his 14th of the season, at 5:39 of the third period.
Nesterenko’s goal, at 4:05 of the first, put the Ducks in front 2-1. He made a point of immediately shifting the focus to McTavish and Terry, who had the secondary assist, when he spoke about his first goal in the NHL after the game.
“Terry made a great play, dropped it back to Mac-T and then he made an unbelievable pass, found me,” Nesterenko said. “I had an open net so all I had to do was put it in. Great play by both of them.”
What went through his mind once he scored?
“The relief, I guess,” Nesterenko said. “I pointed to Mac-T. It was all him on the pass, so gotta celebrate with him for setting it up. Lot of relief, for sure.”
Said McTavish: “(Terry) made a nice little area pass to me. I had some space in the middle and I saw (Nesterenko) push off his D and create some space for himself. It was a really good play by him and I just found a lane.
“That was a tough pass to one-time. It was pretty hard.”
Importantly, Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk made sure to get the puck for Nesterenko. Nesterenko’s father Mikhail was on hand at Honda Center for his first game on Tuesday and the first-goal moment on Saturday.
A photo of a photo on a memorable night for Nesterenko pic.twitter.com/G3UnQ6nsxA
— lisa dillman (@reallisa) March 26, 2023
Eakins praised the pass that led up to the goal.
“It was a great play – great scanning ability eyesight by Mac-T,” he said. “Then even just for Nikita to get in the net at that angle. Great play all the way around.”
Eakins had seen enough from Nesterenko in his first two games to put him with Terry and McTavish on Saturday.
“Nikita’s driving a little offense quietly. I don’t want to throw him totally into the deep end of the pool,” Eakins said on Saturday morning. “I just want to kind of edge him along. We’ll see how this goes for him. Going with these guys, he’s going to see a little bit more action on the back end from St. Louis because of Troy.
“He’s skating really well. He’s looking to make plays. He’s not being shy and he’s not deferring….I just thought through a very small sample size he has earned it.”
Said McTavish: “I really like playing with him, actually. He’s got a really good stick, creates a lot of turnovers with his speed. Really smart player. Finds space to get open, like on the goal.
“Makes some really good plays, area passes on the wall. I’ve been really impressed with him and hopefully can keep playing with him.”