ANAHEIM – Another Ducks home loss spells a cause for concern in the confines of Honda Center. Tyler Bozak, Phil Kessel and Paul Ranger score three unanswered en route to a 3-1 upset over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night. It became the third straight loss for the best team in the league while Toronto continued a three-game winning streak.
After two big losses to the Canadiens and Penguins last week, the Ducks were in need to get back to the winning side of hockey in order to stay strong during playoffs. The hot streak suddenly got too hot as the Ducks seem to be dropping the ball with just 17 games remaining in the season. The heat between the two teams suddenly arose with the Maple Leafs taking a grip from the game. They pulled away from the Ducks as they began the period with a surge of offense that was quieted by goaltender Frederik Andersen.
When the time came for another response, they formed a tripping penalty to Toronto’s James van Riemsdyk who tripped up Ben Lovejoy six minutes in. The team didn’t forget, as they later responded with Lovejoy targeted by David Clarkson as the two fought it out hard after it began with a cross check that sent the game to four on four action. The separation didn’t help take ease off the two teams as Patrick Maroon and Tim Gleason battled it out racking up a trio of penalties.
Despite the game remaining four on four, the Ducks dug themselves a whole with a tripping call to Saku Koivu where Toronto responded seven seconds later on their first power play. Bozak added his 15th on a tip in from Captain Dion Phaneuf’s shot from the stick side of Andersen where it hit the stick through traffic to go up 1-0. Kessel made it 2-0 three minutes later, on his team leading 34th goal of the season with Bozak gaining an assist on the play for his 24th. The Leafs took 11 shots on the goal holding Anaheim to nine shots.
The second period saw a lighter side to the game, and the Ducks taking the helm as the team came out hard to cover the spread. It only grew farther away as Toronto scored their third unanswered on a Paul Ranger tip in for his fourth on the year. Kessel’s one on one rush into the Anaheim zone ended with his shot hitting the stick of Ranger to make the mountain harder to climb for the Ducks.
In a surprise move, Clarkson once again picked a fight with defenseman Bryan Allen to get thrown out with his second fighting major while Allen served his first. It didn’t stop Anaheim from trying, as they took the game deep into the period where Perry again for the fourth straight game in to score first for his team. His 35th came on a fight to find the open window for opportunity which came on the stick side of Toronto netminder Jonathan Bernier to cut the lead down to two. The Ducks outshot the Leafs 19-7, but the mission would be to break through the Toronto defense that racked up the blocked shots in response.
The Leafs solid defense held through the third period with the team allowing a pair of power plays to the Ducks that failed to convert making them 0 for 4 on the night. Toronto saw 16 shots in their zone with Bernier denying further access to the net to close out another big upset over the best in the west. Their continued success kept the Ducks scratching their heads figuring out how to fix things. Andersen earned his first loss since February 3 making 23 saves while holding .927 save percentage through 20 games. Bernier recorded his 25th victory on 43 saves with a .977 save percentage. The Ducks could find the answer on the road as they take off for Calgary on a three game road trip.
