This wasn’t one of those clunker, “Let’s get out of town” games.
It was a can’t-do-anything-right, “Start the jet engines!” game.
The Ducks’ 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night was fraught with frustration.
Wide net openings were missed, most of the quality shots went to die in the glove of ex-King goalie Jonathan Bernier, officials made calls the Ducks berated as dubious. And there was more.
The night was summed up by the fact backup goalie Ilya Bryzgalov had a lace tied up in his skate that probably remains unfixed.
Takeaway No. 1: Don’t take a seven-game winning streak to Toronto.
Last year, Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel snapped a seven-game Anaheim streak with a two-goal game, and he inserted the dagger Tuesday with the two final goals against the lace-locked relief goalie Bryzgalov, playing in his first Ducks game since 2007.
The Ducks outshot Toronto, 42-27, and that margin was 31-16 after two periods, when the visitors trailed 2-1. The final stat sheet showed 30 missed shots by Anaheim.
Takeaway No. 2: “Analyze This” would be a good film for the flight to Montreal.
Why did Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen slip Tuesday?
The best guess is that it was his 19th consecutive game, and you’ve got to expect the repetitive mental challenge of an NHL game dating to Nov. 7 will cause some blackouts like the Joffrey Lupul shot from the faceoff circle and the behind-the-net squeeze-in by David Booth that Andersen was slow to respond to.
“I’m not in his head, but with Bryz coming in and with [other backup John Gibson] getting healthy … I don’t know, I’m going to talk to him and we’ll see,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “With seven wins in a row [before Tuesday], I’m not throwing him under the table.”
Takeaway No. 3: Watch that temper.
The Ducks were chafed over losing a power play early in the third period when a referee called center Ryan Getzlaf for an embellishment penalty because he face-planted when tripped by Maple Leafs’ defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
Getzlaf said he’s never been called for that before.
Anaheim buzzed the net repeatedly in the ensuing four-on-four and they fumed at how a man-advantage would’ve played out.
Instead, Toronto answered with two goals in a 51-second span, and it got worse when an official made what replays showed to be a bad offsides call and got into it with Ducks forward Patrick Maroon.
Maroon lost it, getting hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that led to a Maple Leafs power-play goal.
“The ref started challenging him right to [Maroon’s] face, he knew our guy was going to explode, and he did,” Boudreau said.
Takeaway No. 4: Weighing the collateral damage.
Ducks forward Kyle Palmieri left the game early with an undisclosed upper-body injury that will be assessed at Wednesday’s practice in Montreal, and Boudreau moved Rene Bourque off the first line in favor of Maroon.
Bourque has ample reason to want back in with Getzlaf.
He spent the past three-plus seasons playing for the Montreal Canadiens.
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