ANAHEIM — The Ducks went toe-to-toe with a bona fide heavyweight, sending the Washington Capitals to the canvas, 4-3, in a shootout on Friday night at Honda Center.
The Ducks rebounded brilliantly from their shelling by the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday and handed the Caps just their second loss in 11 games.
In a tight affair despite the Ducks out-shooting Washington 38-21, the Ducks were a perfect 3 for 3 on the penalty kill. But they went 0 for 5 on the power play, dropping them to 3 for 37 since Nov. 10. Nevertheless, they toppled the Eastern Conference’s hottest franchise.
“It was a big response from a 7-0 loss the other night, and we’ve got to keep rolling against Chicago on Sunday,” said enforcer Ross Johnston, whose two points of depth scoring shored up the Ducks’ deficiencies up a man.
Rookie Beckett Sennecke and Johnston each had a goal and an assist. Cutter Gauthier also scored. Mikael Granlund returned to the lineup (lower-body injury), playing just his second game since Oct. 25. Ville Husso made his third consecutive start and fourth straight appearance, stopping 18 shots.
Tom Wilson, Ethen Frank and Aliaksei Protas each scored for Washington. Logan Thompson had 35 saves.
In the shootout, Leo Carlsson appeared to convert for the Ducks, but had his goal wiped away upon review. It mattered not, as patient moves to Troy Terry’s backhand and Mason McTavish’s forehand gave the Ducks two conversions to the Capitals’ one, courtesy of Anthony Beauvillier.
A scoreless but suspenseful third period gave way to overtime, where Terry and Jackson LaCombe tested Thompson in rapid succession early. Sennecke’s effortful shift ultimately sent the Capitals into the Ducks’ end, where Husso stymied Connor McMichael on a breakaway. A pair of odd-man breaks felt promising for the Ducks, including a chance for Granlund, but the match was destined for a shootout.
“Being out for a little bit and watching these games, it’s been pretty entertaining, every single overtime. It was like that again tonight,” Granlund said. “We were playing fast, we got some chances, but obviously we didn’t score, and, at the end of the day, we got it done in a shootout.”
In the second period, the two sides exchanged goals in a 13-second jolt between 6:06 and 6:19, with each team tacking on another goal thereafter to deadlock the score, 3-3.
First, Frank set up Rasmus Sundin’s point shot, the rebound from which eluded Pavel Mintyukov and came back to Frank for a goal, his second in two career games against the Ducks.
The Ducks responded with captain Radko Gudas’ snap shot that was tipped home by Johnston.
Matt Roy’s slap shot from the point slammed off Husso’s pad directly to Protas, whose point-blank shot gave the Capitals the lead anew, 7:38 into the period.
Alex Ovechkin’s 911 goals are more than any other player in NHL history, but 912 will have to wait thanks to a larcenous pad save by Husso.
Thompson returned the favor at the other end, stoning Sennecke off a two-on-one rush, but on the same shift Sennecke wouldn’t be denied again.
With 2:01 left in the frame, he drove the net off a scrambled draw to score his eighth goal of the season. It moved him back into a tie for the most goals among rookies, with his 22 points giving him sole possession of the rookie lead.
Johnston spotted Sennecke for the goal, but postgame it was Sennecke peering playfully at Johnston during the hulking veteran’s interview.
“He’s watching this answer: He’s doing great. He’s a young player, he’s big, he’s strong and he can pull a puck. He’s a power forward, and he’s nice to play with because he can finish and you’ve just got to feed him the puck,” said Johnston, looking at Sennecke and joshing that “that’s all you’re gonna get.”
The Ducks came out swinging but it was the visitors drawing first blood, 9:29 after the opening draw.
Wilson circled high during a cycle, exiting the zone and re-entering behind the play. He strode toward the slot, where he skated into Justin Sourdif’s rolling backhand pass for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.
The next blood in the match was literal. After Jacob Trouba detonated Ryan Leonard, Washington’s Calder Trophy contender was left leaking behind the Ducks’ net. He did not return to action.
“I could see it coming. He knows exactly what he’s doing, the kid’s in a vulnerable spot. Leno’s pretty banged up,” Wilson said. “I asked (Trouba) to fight and he said no. We’ll leave it at that.”
The play was reviewed but no penalty was assessed to the Ducks as it was a clean shoulder check from Trouba. Instead, Jakob Chychrun’s roughing minor put Washington down a man.
The Ducks would draw even 12 seconds after that penalty expired, 1:44 before the first intermission. Sennecke skated to the right point, down the wall and behind the net before slipping a pass into the slot for Gauthier’s goofy-footed goal, his 16th of the season.
“Right from the get-go, we did a really good job and we had a lot of really good things going for us, we had pace,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “I know we were chasing the game a couple times from behind and we scored pretty quickly after to get ourselves back into it. Everybody contributed in a lot of ways.”