ANAHEIM — Ducks coach Dallas Eakins was talking about the Carolina Hurricanes’ offense, particularly high-powered in recent days with a combined 10 goals in their last two wins – four against the Kings and six against the St. Louis Blues.
“Sometimes I wonder if they want to beat you 6-5 instead of 1-0,” Eakins said Tuesday morning. “They can certainly skate. We want to match their work ethic, outwork them if we can. But we’re certainly going to have to skate tonight.”
Hours later, there was more right than wrong about his scouting report. The Ducks led three times and three times the Hurricanes responded before the Ducks won 4-3 in overtime.
It was Ryan Strome’s goal in overtime giving the Ducks their first win in seven games. Defenseman Cam Fowler found Strome at the blue line, and Strome, moving in on the right wing on a 2-on-1 with Frank Vatrano, beat Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov on the stick side at 1:56 of overtime.
“This year, I feel like I’ve got a little more confidence in overtime,” said Strome, who scored his seventh goal of the season. You’ve got to go out there with the intention to try to win the game. We possessed the puck and held on to it, and when we got one chance, we buried it.”
So it was a designed play in OT, right?
Strome chuckled, saying: “I wish I could say it was.”
Wins and leads have been hard to attain for the Ducks (7-17-3) in the first third of the season. They’ve only led twice after two periods, winning once against the New York Rangers and losing to Minnesota in a shootout on Saturday.
On Tuesday, they were tied 3-3 after two periods – receiving evenly distributed scoring from three lines. Scoring for the Ducks in regulation: Adam Henrique, Max Comtois and Brett Leason. It was the first game back for Comtois, who had missed 11 straight games with a high ankle sprain. “It’s a work in progress,” Comtois said. “But so far, so good.”
Said Strome: “We found a way to stick in the game. We didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot. A lot of times this year, we found ways to lose.”
Leason’s second-period goal at 10:59 gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead just 43 seconds after Carolina’s Sebastian Aho tied it. Leason was set up nicely by linemate Mason McTavish, who had one of his better games of the season, a good response after his minus-two in Winnipeg on Sunday.
“I thought that line was really good,” Eakins said. “McTavish played a good game, obviously, (Leason) scoring again. He continues to improve and (Max) Jones is playing as hard as anybody on our team right now. … They can be a handful because (Jones) can really skate and he’s physical. Leason can move on his feet. He’s got a big long reach. (McTavish) is really strong on the puck.
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“If they can get in there and get going on the forecheck, they can be dangerous.”
The Hurricanes responded one more time and tied it at 3-3 with Jordan Staal’s redirection over Duck goalie John Gibson’s shoulder at 15:49 of the second. Carolina didn’t get a shot on goal in the third period until there was 5:01 remaining.
“At times, we’ve been a fragile team,” Strome said. “I think it’s important for us to try to stay the course. It seems whenever we keep it simple … we’re able to stick in games.”
Call it an important lesson learned.
“It’s big – it’s important for the group,” Henrique said. “You’ve got to learn how to play in tight games. Those last few minutes when it’s more high-stress, you have to make those important plays at the right times of the game when it’s tied late. I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”
Earlier in the day, Eakins had spoken about the importance of striking the right balance in the messaging at this juncture.
“We’re not going to go around pounding the ‘be-positive’ drum,” he said. “I’m not sure about positivity. For me, sometimes it’s like sweeping things under a carpet. We’re certainly not going to be negative. Negative will kill you. That’s for sure.”
Ryan Strome’s (@strome18) 7th of the year is the @Energizer overtime winner! pic.twitter.com/SEnM0MqKvS
— NHL (@NHL) December 7, 2022
Ryan Strome talks with @AlysonLozoff after scoring the OT winner!@AnaheimDucks | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/f6ObrkYmlj
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) December 7, 2022
McTavish to Leason for the backdoor goal!@AnaheimDucks | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/K83x8pXkmH
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) December 7, 2022
Rico with the hot start! @AnaheimDucks | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/JbkBRTWLYp
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) December 7, 2022
Commer crashes the net and puts it home!@AnaheimDucks | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/rabODp82c0
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) December 7, 2022