|
 "Today, we just got outworked. We lost all the one-on-one
battles, and when you do that, the other team is just hungrier than
you are right now," Boudreau said.
After being almost unbeatable at home, the Ducks dropped a second
straight home game and fell for the third time in their past four
contests at Honda Center, falling 4-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets
on Monday night.
The Blue Jackets (29-23-4) captured their third in a row and handed
the Ducks (40-13-5) a second consecutive loss.
"We had a huge game from a lot of guys," said Columbus left winger
Nick Foligno, who scored twice in the third period, giving him 15
goals this season. "We're kind of a forechecking team, and if we're
not doing that, we're not a good team. That's kind of our mentality
each and every night, to make sure we're on pucks quick and smother
their defense."
Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 34 shots, smothered
the Ducks for two periods before allowing two goals in the third. He
made an impressive leg save of a point-blank shot by center Andrew
Cogliano in the second period. Bobrovsky, who has won 12 of his last
14 starts, also made an outstanding glove save of an attempt by
center Daniel Winnik early in the third.
Anaheim, which hadn't scored in more than five periods, finally got
one past Bobrovsky at 5:45 of the third. Left winger Patrick Maroon
backhanded a pass to center Mathieu Perreault, who scored, cutting
the Ducks' deficit to 2-1.
Foligno delivered three minutes later, scoring on a rebound of a
miss by left winger R.J. Umberger, who had two assists. Foligno
scored on another rebound at 13:07, this one coming off the stick of
right winger Cam Atkinson on a two-man advantage for a 4-1 lead.
"This is huge for us," Foligno said. "That's a good team over there.
They obviously play well at home. We were just trying to get on them
as much as possible and force turnovers. That was the case tonight."
Anaheim center Ryan Getzlaf scored his 27th goal by punching in an
attempt by defenseman Hampus Lindholm with 3:19 remaining, but it
had no bearing on the outcome.
"It's frustrating with our effort and our start of the game,"
Getzlaf said. "We're not ready to play. They came out and they
played hard. Their goaltender played well early, and we just didn't
respond. We didn't keep playing the game."
[to top of second column] |
Anaheim netminder Frederik Andersen, who lost for the first time on
home ice in eight starts, made 29 saves.
The Ducks were coming off a 2-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on
Saturday. Though they are 22-4-2 at Honda Center, the Ducks have
lost four of six at home the past two weeks. Next up is a Wednesday
visit from the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.
"It's probably great that Chicago is coming in," Boudreau said.
"It's a team that if we don't play up to our best level, we're going
to get our butts kicked. It's never good to see Chicago because
they're a great team, but maybe it's what we need."
Blue Jackets center Ryan Johansen converted a pass from behind the
net by right winger Nathan Horton and fired it over the left
shoulder of Andersen for a 1-0 Columbus lead with 8:50 left in the
first period. It was Johansen's 23rd goal.
Columbus made it 2-0 when defenseman James Wisniewski ripped a shot
from the top of the circle that deflected off the right skate of
Umberger for a power-play goal with 3:17 remaining in the second
period.
"We are really playing to our identity right now," Umberger said.
"We are working hard. We are a gritty team."
NOTES: The Ducks held an 8-2 margin in shots on goal midway through
the first period before the Blue Jackets attempted the final eight
for a 10-8 advantage in the period. ... Anaheim has a 16-8-1 mark
when its opponent scores first. ... The Ducks recalled C David
Steckel from AHL Norfolk on Saturday. ... The Blue Jackets recalled
D Tim Erixon from AHL Springfield on Sunday. ... Columbus, one of
the league's youngest clubs, has six players who have played fewer
than 100 games. They include C Boone Jenner, D Cody Goloubef, G
Curtis McElhinney, D David Savard, RW Corey Tropp and D Ryan Murray.
... Columbus resumes its West Coast swing Thursday against the Los
Angeles Kings and Friday against the San Jose Sharks. ... The game
drew a crowd of 14,044.
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