ANAHEIM — Falling behind for the fourth straight game to begin the season, the Ducks were unable to rally for a third consecutive victory, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, on Thursday night at Honda Center.
A pair of goals by Seth Jarvis along with scores from defenseman Alexander Nikishin and forward Sebastian Aho swamped the Ducks, whose only tally, courtesy of Leo Carlsson, briefly made a game of it in the latter half of the second period.
The NHL’s only remaining unbeaten team, Carolina (4-0-0, 8 points) dominated play with its sticks and forced turnovers in the Ducks’ end, troubling head coach Joel Quenneville’s group for extended stretches.
“They came out in the first shift and dictated the way the game is going to be played,” Quenneville said. “That was kind of an indication that we had to kill it right there early enough, but that’s what happens when you’re ready to play.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen better sticks in a game. I don’t know how many times they took the puck away from us cleanly, neatly, and turned it into something. That was a relentless performance on how to play with your stick in the puck area, the battle areas, and that’s what we want to get to. That was a demonstration of how to do it correctly.”
The Hurricanes’ impressive effort paid off when a giveaway allowed Jarvis to finish a rebound from a tight angle at 14:54 for his 100th NHL goal.
The Ducks (2-2-0, 4 points) were fortunate to trail by just one heading into the first intermission against a team that has outscored opponents 19-8.
Defenseman Jacob Trouba stopped what seemed like a sure goal with his stick, helping Dostal by knocking away a shot headed into an exposed side of the net. His Ducks teammate, Drew Helleson, also broke up an odd-man rush with a perfectly-timed intervention.
Intending to ramp up pressure in the offensive zone in the middle period, the Ducks instead went without a shot on goal for more than 11 minutes.
By then Carolina had extended its advantage thanks to Jarvis, who capitalized on the visitors’ third power play – hooking on Jackson LaCombe – with a one-time wrist shot from the right circle for his sixth goal of the season.
Coming in hoping to outshoot a foe that typically owns that advantage, the Ducks’ drought ended when Carlsson halved the deficit to 2-1 at 11:32.
The 20-year-old Swedish forward received the puck at center ice and skated untouched into the slot, where he beat goaltender Frederick Andersen on stick side for his second goal of the season.
Carlsson’s effort sent the Ducks and their fans into a momentary frenzy. They put nine more attempts during the period on Andersen, who appeared in 125 games for the Ducks from 2013-2016.
Mason McTavish nearly tied the score during that stretch, but his attempt at 17:54 clanged off the crossbar.
Carolina absorbed the Ducks’ pressure, and a couple of missed chances by Carlsson kept it 2-1 heading into the third period.
“We knew they were going to play fast,” Carlsson said. “Our breakouts were not ideal for the first period. We played good maybe for about 10 minutes in the second period, but we couldn’t keep it going the whole game.”
A scuffle to close the second period presented the Ducks another chance at a power play to start the last 20 minutes of regulation, but Carolina killed it and nearly caught the Ducks on a breakaway the moment they returned to full strength.
Dostal made the save, one of 27, however the Hurricanes got to him less than 30 seconds later thanks to Nikishin’s first career NHL goal to regain a two-score edge at 2:38 of the third.
Aho collected his first of the year at 15:48, giving Jarvis an assist on the night as well.
A Carlsson attempt off the post was the Ducks’ best chance in the third.
After scoring four times in 10 power plays over the previous two games, the Ducks were stopped on all four tries Thursday, as Andersen’s 23 saves against the team that drafted him 87th overall in 2012 helped salt away the contest.
“He was able to shut the door and allow us to cruise through it,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said of his Danish netminder. “That was probably the difference in the game.
The Ducks head on the road for their next five games before returning to Orange County in two weeks to face Detroit.
“We’re going to be busy,” Quenneville said, “so whatever’s going to be coming we’ve got to be welcoming it and ready for the next one. We’ve got some tough games on that trip but certainly let’s be excited about it one at a time.”