Ducks power play powerless, Hall nets third period hat trick in 5-2 Carolina win

ANAHEIM, Calif. – A powerless power play may have finally put the nail on the coffin on even the slightest remaining playoff hopes for the Anaheim Ducks.

Anaheim went scoreless on six power play opportunities, as Frederik Andersen stopped 35 shots, and Taylor Hall netted a third-period hat trick to lift the Carolina Hurricanes over the Ducks, 5-2, on Sunday at Honda Center.

“It took us, I think, too long to get into the game,” Ducks forward Alex Killorn said. “By the third, I thought we were playing some good hockey, but a little too late.”

Killorn tied it at 1-1 in the second period, and Trevor Zegras brought Anaheim within one with just over three minutes to go in third period. Lukáš Dostál stopped 32 shots, including three shorthanded breakaways.

Hall scored all three Carolina goals in the third period after Mark Jankowski and Jordan Martinook scored in the second period. Andersen, a former Duck, made 16 saves in the third period.

“Those sting, you know?” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We had plenty of chances to get more than two goals. They're a hard team to sustain pressure on offensively and they make you work for every inch of ice, and I thought our response after they made it 3-1 was impressive, but we couldn't score.”

Anaheim went scoreless on six power play attempts and generated just six shots on those man-advantages. The Ducks have scored two goals in their last 20 power play attempts and six in their last 47.

“The power play can't go 0-for-6,” Ducks forward Troy Terry said. “Their penalty kill comes with pretty much just all out pressure everywhere… I thought through some of the power plays that were ugly, we still ended up with a Grade-A chance at the net. That's kind of the way it is, but we just need to bear down and put them in the net.”

Anaheim’s season conversion rate dropped to 12.56%, just above the New York Islanders’ NHL-worst 12.4%.

“We just didn't execute,” Cronin said.
”We didn't make quality passes. We seemed to be fumbling a lot of pucks. Held onto it for too long. You can't hold on to the puck against a team that pressures like this, and when you do that, you're making decisions that are rush decisions and they picked a few of them off and went the other way.”

The Ducks’ faint playoff hopes may have taken their final blow, as Anaheim (30-32-8, 68 points) fell 13 points behind St. Louis (37-28-7, 81 points) for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, including a 4-1 win over Nashville on Sunday. 

The Ducks have 12 games remaining, and their “Tragic Number” is 11, meaning any combination of 11 points lost by Anaheim or gained by the final wild card team will result in their mathematical elimination from playoff contention.

St. Louis is on a 92-point pace, which means the Ducks would have to go 12-0-0 the rest of the way to match that pace.

The Ducks had opportunities early with three power plays in the first period, including a four-minute double-minor. However, Anaheim generated just two power play shots.

Carolina sent plenty of rubber at Dostál in the opening frame, just as they did in Dostál’s 35-save effort in the Ducks’ January overtime win in Carolina. Dostál was up to the task, stopping all 11 first-period shots, including an attempt to bank a shot off his back.

Carolina grabbed the lead eight minutes into the middle frame, as Mark Jankowski deflected in a shot in tight to the right post. Jankowski has six goals in seven games since being acquired at the trade deadline.

Anaheim got some fortune and brought the game back level five minutes later.

What looked like a surefire Carolina goal on a two-on-one was negated as Seth Jarvis’ stick exploded on the one-timer. Jackson LaCombe collected the loose puck to spring Alex Killorn on a two-on-one the other way.

Killorn sniped his fourth goal in six games five-hole on Andersen to tie it up, 1-1.

Carolina went back on top 90 seconds later.

Shane Gostisbehere’s point shot went wide left and off the end boards. The rebound bounced out to the right side of the net, where Jordan Martinook put it home, 2-1.

After the Ducks’ fifth scoreless power play expired early in the third period, Carolina earned its third power play and attacked the crease.

Jackson Blake stormed the blue paint with the puck, and Taylor Hall swooped in to put home the rebound for a 3-1 lead 92 seconds into the third period.

Anaheim got a burst of life with just over three minutes remaining, as Trevor Zegras knifed into the crease to poke home a rebound from a Jacob Trouba charge, 3-2.

It was a short-lived burst, as Trouba lost coverage of Hall on the next shift, and Hall put home his second of the game 36 seconds later, 4-2.

The Ducks pulled Dostál for the extra attacker, but Leo Carlsson’s stick broke on a point-shot attempt. Carolina collected the puck and Hall collected the hat trick on an empty-net tally, 5-2.

Game Notes:

• Ducks forwards Sam Colangelo and Ross Johnston both were out of the line-up due to upper-body injuries for the fifth straight game. Both are listed as day-to-day.

• Defenseman Oliver Kylington was the lone healthy scratch for the Ducks. He made his Anaheim debut as a fill-in forward on Thursday in Nashville.