WASHINGTON, D.C.; - The Anaheim Ducks offensive woes continue after being shutout for the second time this season in a 3-0 loss to the first place Washington Capitals at Capital arena in Washington D.C. Tuesday night.
The Capitals had three different players score in the first and second period of Tuesday night's game while the Ducks struggled to keep a consistent approach offensively.
Before the Ducks began a six game road trip that started on Thursday in St. Louis, they have not been shutout all season long. But after losing 6-0 in Philadelphia on Saturday and Tuesday's loss to the Capitals, they have now been shutout for the second time in their last three games.
"I think our first period kind of put us in. a whole." Troy Terry said on the Victory+ broadcast following the game. "I thought we were competiting. I thought in the first we just seemed a little disjointed not connecting on breakouts or whatever the case was and it led to them getting some chances. That's why they're having such a good year, they can score."
Terry made his return back to the Ducks starting line after missing the team's last four games due to the birth of his child.
Once the game concluded, Anaheim was outshot 25-19 by Washington. Goalie John Gibson finished the night with a .880 save percentage. Defensively, the Ducks were the more physical team against the Capitals, landing 28-6 hits but offensively, the Ducks were unable to get anything going.
With a record of 29-10-5 and 63 points on the year, the Capitals showed the Ducks why they have been considered the best team in hockey following a dominant win over Anaheim. This season, they have lead the NHL in goals scored in the first period and extended that number to 55 following two goals in the first agains the Ducks. The Capitals scored again late in the second period as well.
Both Brandon Duhaime and John Carlson scored in the first period for the Capitals. Duhaime's goal came with a swarm of defenders crowding Gibson in his own net. Carlson's goal came during the final five minutes of the first period.
Prior to Duhaime's goal, it was originally awarded to Jakob Chychrun but the ruling was later changed. Duhaime now has four goals this season while Carlson has three.
Of course it had to be Dewey on dog night pic.twitter.com/oyXPj0C9gz
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 15, 2025
USA HOCKEY IS DO OR DIE pic.twitter.com/NJjvkPVEDu
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 15, 2025
Following Carlson's goal, the Ducks were about to find themselves facing quite the defict but were fortunate enough that a near sure shot by Ehten Frenk was in fact not after the puck hit the cross bar of the net, giving Anaheim their first break of the night, letting them escape the first period with limited damage.
As the Ducks played significantly better in the second period, Frenk would not let them get away with the missed goal in the first period and would join the scoring party during the final 58 seconds of the period after Washington was able to intercept the puck from Anaheim.
Frenk would drive down the ice alongside Pierre-Luc Dubois, Dubois passed the puck over to Frenk who was zero time firing a shot into Gibson's net to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead with 58 seconds left in the second period.
Aside from giving the Capitals a 3-0 lead, the Ducks did a much better job at keeping pace of the puck and keeping Washington out of their zone. However, Anaheim failed to take any shots, landing just two in the second period.
In the third period, the Ducks offense got off to a hot start, taking four shots within the first five minutes of the period. Anaheim's approach quickly vanished away as they took just one more shot at the 10 minute mark of the period.
With the clock winding down by the second, the Ducks took just four more shots in the final three minutes. Terry was responsible for one of them while Drew Helleson was responsible for two and Frank Vatrano had one miss.
"Just talking personally with our line, I thought we had some good looks you know they could have potentially made that a different game." Terry said. "It's just one of those games and you know for our line just trying to build on it."
The Ducks next game will be on Thursday, Jan. 16 when they travel down to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning.