ANAHEIM, Calif. — The door to the NHL’s cellar cracked open Tuesday for the Ducks as the "race" to the bottom of the NHL standings took an unexpected and eventful turn thousands of miles away in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
The Penguins, fighting for their playoff lives, lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, who came into the game having dropped 11 of their last 12. That result came shortly after the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets picked up a point with an overtime loss in Philadelphia.
Chicago wrapped up its 5-2 win about three minutes before puck drop for the Ducks-Vancouver Canucks game at Honda Center.
The Ducks suffered yet another loss as they fell 3-2 to the Canucks, keeping them in contention for last place overall, which carries a 25.5% chance of winning the draft lottery May 8. The Ducks haven’t won in 12 games, last winning on March 17 against the Blue Jackets.
The standings for the three bottom teams after Tuesday’s action:
No. 30: Chicago – 58 points. One game remaining.
No. 31: Anaheim – 58 points. One game remaining.
No. 32: Columbus – 57 points. Two games remaining.
Even though the Blackhawks and Ducks have the same number of points, Chicago holds the first tiebreaker, which is wins in regulation.
On Tuesday, the Canucks were sparked by center Elias Pettersson hitting the 100-point mark in a season with his primary assist on Brock Boeser’s power-play goal at 12:14 of the first period and adding another on J.T. Miller’s game-winning goal at 1:26 of the third period, which broke a 2-2 tie.
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal made 33 saves and the offense was led by two secondary assists from Trevor Zegras and defenseman Drew Helleson’s first NHL goal, at 15:32 of the second period.
“I always dreamt of it,” Helleson said. “I didn’t know if it was ever going to happen. But it’s pretty surreal. It’s just kicking in now that it actually happened. It’s a pretty good feeling for sure.
“I kind of blacked out and then I looked up and saw Z (Zegras) skating at me. He was smiling almost bigger than I was.”
The friendship between Helleson and LaCombe goes back to their youth hockey days in Minnesota. What would they have said then, if they had been told they’d eventually be teammates in the NHL?
“I think it depends on when you would have told us,” Helleson said. “If you would have told us when we were little, we would have believed you. But I think growing up, through the ranks, maybe not so much. To actually be here with him is pretty cool and to see his first game is pretty special.”
Ducks coach Dallas Eakins noted how excited the players and staff were for Helleson’s first goal.
“It’s certainly one of those little victories that we take in games like this,” Eakins said.
Ducks rookie Mason McTavish had the other goal, scoring on the power play at 17:20 of the first to cut the Canucks’ lead to 2-1. McTavish did not finish the game because of an upper-body injury suffered in the second period.
For the third time in three games, there was an NHL debut for the Ducks. On Saturday, it was goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek, in an overtime loss at Arizona. One day later, Helleson made his debut, playing alongside Nathan Beaulieu on the second defense pair against Colorado. And it was defenseman Jackson LaCombe taking the vaunted rookie solo lap Tuesday.
LaCombe logged 18:24 of ice time, recording three blocked shots and one hit. He signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Ducks on Monday, two days after his University of Minnesota team lost in the NCAA championship final.
LaCombe’s parents were in the arena for his debut and his two older sisters were on hand, too, surprising him with their unexpected arrival. Of course, there was no shortage of advice from his new teammates.
“There were definitely a few guys – playing with (Kevin) Shattenkirk. He was kind of giving me pointers the whole time,” LaCombe said. “He was great the whole time, so it was awesome. And the coaches were great about it before the game, telling us to play and just use your instincts.”
Said Eakins: “I thought he played well. He didn’t seem nervous at all. Looks like he’s got a little bit of ice in his veins.
“There was a play in the third period where the puck was basically right on the line, on the blue line, and he walked it straight across with no fear. Usually a guy will just get that puck and rip it in deep. But I thought he showed great confidence.”
Earlier in the day, the Ducks recalled forward Bo Groulx from their AHL affiliate in San Diego and Groulx made his season debut, centering the fourth line and was 67% in the faceoff circle.
“He was really good,” Eakins said. “I started throwing him out there for a few more on the penalty kill and thought he did a good job there.
“It’s amazing. Bo has played games here before but his maturity level now, coming in, it’s like he’s gained five years of manhood.”
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