On Sunday, the Anaheim Ducks played their final home game of the 2024-25 season when they hosted the Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks were coming off a 6-1 beatdown at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday after back-to-back victories over the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
Game #80: Ducks vs. Avalanche Gameday Preview
This was the Avs’ season finale, and as they were locked into the third spot in the Central Division standings, they rested several of their impact players, including Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews.
The Ducks signed defenseman Ian Moore to an ELC on Saturday, and he made his NHL debut in this game. He was paired alongside Jacob Trouba, and Olen Zellweger served as a healthy scratch.
Ducks head coach Greg Cronin shuffled the lineup for this game, switching Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras on their respective lines.
Lukas Dostal got the start in this game for the Ducks and saved 20 of 23 shots.
Scott Wedgewood was in the Colorado crease and stopped 18 of 20.
“We started out poorly and we ended poorly,” Cronin said after the game. “To me, it’s extremely disappointing. I’ll leave it at that.”
Here are my notes from this game:
Rush Defense-Typically, when the Ducks have given up rush opportunities this season, it’s been a failure to pick up assignments despite getting back on the backcheck and beating trailers up ice.
That wasn’t the case in this game. They allowed two goals off rush chances and were beaten back up ice both times.
“Everything went off of turnovers,” Cronin said of what went wrong in the last ten minutes of the game. “It wasn’t like they stripped us. We had full possession of pucks.
“I don’t care what game it is during the season; you either play the right way, or you play the wrong way. We played the wrong way, and they took advantage of the turnovers and put them in the back of the net.”
On Colorado’s first, Pavel Mintyukov tried to make a backhand pass from the top of the zone to a low forward in the corner and was picked off, igniting a 4-on-3 that turned into a 4-on-2 the other way.
On Colorado’s third, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish were caught below the offensive goal line without possession. McTavish was the weak side forward who should have tracked back when the puck was sent up the opposite wall.
Ian Moore-Moore was able to showcase what could potentially evolve him into a quality modern defensive defenseman, specifically his skating. He has an explosive stride and elite four-way mobility that allow him to eliminate time and space as well as recover from broken plays.
His willingness to take control of the play in the offensive zone and walk the blueline confidently in search of a shooting or passing lane was on display and has been something missing from that aspect of the Ducks’ attack this season.
“I can’t really put it into words this quick,” Moore said after his first career NHL game. “It hasn’t sunk in. I was just trying to play simple out there, just trying to stick to the basics. It would have been nice to get the win, but it’s still a dream come true for me to play tonight.”
Trevor Zegras-For as long as Zegras is a member of the Ducks’ organization, it would appear he’s destined to be a winger. He is most effective when leading rushes and with the entire ice in front of him, so it’s imperative to manufacture ways to put himself in those positions.
Mitch Marner, Artemi Panarin, and Kirill Kaprizov have no issue getting to the middle of the ice in the defensive or neutral zones to build speed and drive play into the offensive zone. As an outlet, Zegras is too stationary and could stand to start his movements to open ice before outlet passes are made so he can make the next play with speed.
The Ducks will hit the road for their final two games of the season on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets, respectively.
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