Ducks lose seventh straight, as Flyers' Trevor Zegras scores twice on former team

4 days ago 2

PHILADELPHIA – There won’t be a shortage of storylines in every Anaheim Ducks-Philadelphia Flyers game for seemingly the next decade, and the script made for high drama early.

However, after former Flyers draft pick Cutter Gauthier scored the opening goal and former Duck Trevor Zegras netted two more, it was more of the same month-long story for Anaheim.

Philadelphia answered Gauthier’s opening strike with four straight goals, as the Ducks lost their seventh straight game, 5-2, on Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Anaheim is 0-6-1 in its last seven games and 2-9-2 in its last 13 games.

The Ducks scored first for the second straight game–a rarity this season, scoring first just 16 times in 43 games this season (tied for third-fewest in the league). However, Anaheim again gave up a string of four straight goals en route to a loss.

Gauthier and Alex Killorn both netted power play goals, again a rarity for Anaheim. It was Anaheim’s first game with two power play goals scored since Dec. 7. The Ducks converted just three of their last 26 power plays in the previous 10 games.

Zegras then netted his two goals, and Anaheim Hills native Cam York, Canadian Olympian Travis Sanheim and Nikita Grebenkin scored for Philadelphia.

Lukáš Dostál stopped 34 of 38 shots against, and his Czech Olympic teammate Dan Vladar made 16 saves.

Anaheim (21-19-3, 45 points) had been in the top three of the Pacific Division all season but fell into the second Wild Card spot by the end of last night. The Ducks have now fallen further behind division-leading Edmonton and Vegas and could be out of a playoff spot by the end of the night.

The Ducks continue their four-games-in-six-nights East Coast road trip on Thursday in Carolina.

Cut Through the Noise

While last year’s meeting in Philadelphia maybe had more vitriol in the crowd’s chants–as former Flyers No. 5 overall pick Cutter Gauthier played his first game in the City of Brotherly Love since requesting a trade before ever suiting up for the Broadway Bullies–this year’s meeting featured simple but loud boos every time the 21-year-old hit the ice.

“Now we’ve played there before, so it’s nothing new,” Gauthier told Andrew Knoll for RG Media this week. “When we play Philly, it’ll be a good game. They’ve got a good team this year, and it’ll be an exciting atmosphere.”

It only took four minutes for Gauthier to cut through that atmosphere for a momentary silence, followed by another overwhelming wall of boos.

Gauthier blasted a power-play one-timer around a Chris Kreider screen to open the scoring in Anaheim’s favor for the second straight game, 1-0.

The goal was Gauthier’s 20th of the season, matching his 82-game total from last season’s rookie campaign.

Gauthier is the second player in Ducks franchise history to record two 20-goal seasons at age 21 or younger. The other? Tuesday’s opponent Trevor Zegras.

Two for Zegras

Zegras played it cool with the Philadelphia media at morning skate on Tuesday, ahead of the team that drafted him in 2019 and subsequently traded him last summer.

“It will be cool,” Zegras said. “I have no hard feelings with any of the guys on the team. Got to know them and play with them for a big part of my life. It will be cool to play against them.”

When it came to game time, the emotions showed through on a big night for the former Duck.

Zegras scored similar one-timer goals from the right circle two minutes apart in the first period to tie and take the lead that the Flyers would never relinquish.

The 24-year-old’s first strike tied the game six minutes after Gauthier’s opening goal. Zegras’ 16th goal of the season drew a wry smile from Ducks goaltender Lukáš Dostál, a smile like it was something he’d seen plenty before, and inspired quite a celebration from Zegras.

Zegras took off his right glove and mimicked a phone at his ear with a quick hang-up, which he told the Flyers broadcast was a reference to his trade call with Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek over the summer.

“That’s about how quick the phone call was before,” Zegras said. “I thought it’d be good.”

Two minutes later on the power play, Zegras completed the same play again for his 17th goal of the season and a primal yell, as his team took a 2-1 lead.

“Dostál’s usually got my number,” Zegras told local media postgame. “So it was good to get a couple on him.”

It was clearly a night to right some wrongs for Zegras, who spent parts of five seasons with Anaheim. In a transitional period for the Ducks, Zegras was a face of the franchise drawing attention for his highlight reel goals and exuberant personality, amassing 67 goals and 119 assists in 261 games.

However, as Anaheim looked to get out of its rebuild phase, Verbeek no longer saw Zegras as a core piece and traded him for a more “cohesive fit” in center Ryan Poehling and two draft picks.

This season, Zegras’ 17 goals and 41 points lead the Flyers in both categories.

“It was a tough ending with my time there,” Zegras said. “I’ve been thinking about this game for a long time. It was one that meant a lot to me. It was definitely cool to get one, then two. So, special.”

Other Notes

-- Ducks recalled goaltender Ville Husso on an emergency basis from AHL San Diego on Tuesday morning. Back-up goaltender Petr Mrázek was pulled after two periods in Washington last night due to injury. Husso went 5-3-1 with a 3.25 GAA and .884 save percentage in nine appearances last month.

-- Forward Nikita Nesterenko was put on waivers Tuesday and was a healthy scratch in Philadelphia. Nesterenko had played in the previous four games after a month of healthy scratches. Nesterenko could be claimed by another team on waivers or be assigned to AHL San Diego, which could pave the way for a possible trade acquisition by the Ducks.

-- Ryan Strome was a healthy scratch for the third time in four games on Tuesday. He dressed in Washington last night in a game against his brother Dylan and the Capitals.

-- The Ducks and National Hockey League were named in a lawsuit on Tuesday, where a former employee alleged sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination. The plaintiff was an IT consultant for O.C. Sports and Entertainment, the entity that owns the Ducks, San Diego Gulls and Honda Center.

The lawsuit alleges harassment from OCSE public relations staffers and Ducks equipment managers, along with discrimination in the plaintiff’s next job with the NHL offices in New York. There was no comment from the Ducks on the lawsuit when reached by The Sporting Tribune.

Read Entire Article