ANAHEIM, Calif. — Given the chance to build momentum coming off their first regulation win of the season, the Ducks squandered the opportunity and fell flat against the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators scored three power-play goals in a 5-1 victory over the Ducks on Friday afternoon at Honda Center, in a meeting between the teams with the worst records in the NHL. They play each other again next month in Ottawa and next seem destined to run into each other in the 2023 NHL draft lottery.
Forwards Brady Tkachuk, Derick Brassard, Tim Stutzle and Mathieu Joseph and defenseman Artem Zub scored for the Senators, who had lost three straight coming into Friday’s game.
Brassard and Joseph each had three points, and goaltender Cam Talbot made 31 saves. He was less than three minutes from recording his first shutout of the season when Ducks forward Max Jones scored with 2:50 remaining. The Senators challenged for goaltender interference but the goal stood.
The Ducks’ penalty kill has struggled for most of the season and was ranked 31st of 32 teams in the NHL heading into Friday’s game — ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks.
The Ducks (6-14-1) had gone 19 games without a win in regulation before breaking through on Wednesday against the New York Rangers. They’ve won back-to-back games just once this season.
Missing the game for the Ducks was defenseman John Klingberg (lower-body injury), and he is considered day-to-day. Taking his place in the lineup was defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, who was playing for the first time since suffering an injury in the game against the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 9.
