BOSTON — Let’s face it. One bad game on the penalty kill can send a team plummeting in the league standings. It takes a prolonged stretch of successful games to make a meaningful move.
The Ducks have not allowed a power-play goal in their past two games, at New Jersey on Tuesday and against the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 shootout loss on Thursday. If there is a focus on their woes, then there should be an acknowledgement of improvement.
A modest run of success has taken them to No. 23 in the league on the penalty kill, up from No. 29,
Small steps. Just like the larger picture, in which the Ducks have lost four consecutive games but finally earned a point (vs, Boston) after three losses in regulation, giving up 17 goals in those three defeats.
“We battled,” Ducks center Derek Grant said. “Our structure was a lot better. Our D zone was a lot better. We didn’t spend a lot of time there. They had their chances, Other teams do good things too, We did a good job staying inside and clearing out second and third chances, transitioning the puck well up the ice
“It’s an important thing for this group to keep focused on that and the offense will come.”
If you want to examine what went right with the penalty kill and what has gone wrong, then Grant is the go-to guy, a mainstay of the PK.
“We have a lot of new faces,” he said. “Power plays are so good these days. They’re going to make their plays. But at the same time, you can’t give them too much time and space because that’s what they all want. So it’s a fine line between being too aggressive and sitting back too much.
“I thought we sat back too much early on. Then if you’re too aggressive, seams open up. We’ve done a lot of work trying to find that balance and the last couple of games we’ve done a much better job of that. And we’ve got good goaltending along the way which helps.”
Yes, the goaltending.
Ducks goaltender John Gibson and his Boston counterpart Linus Ullmark put on what was ultimately a compelling show at TD Garden.
“The score could have been a lot higher than it was and they both played really well,” Grant said. “It came down to one goal (by Taylor Hall) in a shootout,”
The Bruins had 36 shots on goal. Gibson has faced 145 shots in four starts and didn’t play the third period in two of those starts.
Of note, while it’s an early sample size, that’s the most of any goaltender this season, as of Friday morning. Right behind Gibson are James Reimer of the San Jose Sharks (134) and Jonathan Quick of the Kings (130). Also, Gibson has faced the most shots at even strength (105), followed by Reimer (98) and Quick (96).
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Also
Ducks rookie Mason McTavish was earning plenty of praise for his vision and slick assist, setting up Frank Vatrano in the second period for their lone goal. McTavish is leading the Ducks in assists (four), and is second in assists and tied for second with two other players (center Matty Beniers of Seattle and center JJ Peterka of Buffalo) in points among NHL rookies, as of Friday.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Calen Addison is leading all rookies with six points, all assists. The Ducks’ first game against the Wild is Nov. 9 at Honda Center.