ANAHEIM, CALIF. – A trip to Anaheim was the final stop on the Wild's second-half surge last year before the NHL was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, Honda Center is the backdrop for the Wild's first setback of this season.
Despite a near-perfect performance by goalie Cam Talbot, the Wild's offense came up empty-handed and the team fell 1-0 to the Ducks Monday to sit 1-2 overall.
The second meeting between these two teams, and conclusion to the Wild's season-opening, four-game road trip, is Wednesday.
Talbot stopped 27 pucks to continue an impressive debut with the Wild after he signed a three-year, $11 million contract in the offseason to replace Devan Dubnyk, who was traded to San Jose, as the team's new No.1 netminder.
The only shot that made it past him was a one-timer from Anaheim's Nicolas Deslauriers 4 minutes, 9 seconds into the third period.
In three starts, Talbot has 88 saves on 95 shots and without the fluky bounces that headlined the pair of overtime wins in Los Angeles last week, his play really stole the spotlight. His counterpart at the other end was also locked in, with John Gibson finishing with 33 stops to record his 20th career shutout and lift the Ducks to their first victory of the season.
A goaltending clinic didn't break out the last time the Wild and Ducks squared off on March 8, 2020, the Wild's final game before the NHL was suspended by the pandemic. That was a 5-4 overtime win for the Wild, a back-and-forth, high-scoring struggle that highlighted the offensive tear the Wild went on in the weeks leading up to the pause.
But this time, goals were tough to come by.
Part of the problem was the team's accuracy.
The Wild struggled to hit the net, a trend of the night captured by one of the team's first chances when center Victor Rask had a look in can't-miss range and heaved the puck wide.
Later, a backhander by center Nick Bjugstad sailed over the net and Bjugstad also missed the target on a breakaway in the second period. Same with winger Kevin Fiala, who is still searching for his first point of the season.
In all, the Wild had 19 shots miss the net compared to nine for the Ducks.
What only exacerbated the Wild's scoring issues was the team's woeful power play.
After starting the season in a 0-for-11 funk through two games against Los Angeles, the rut crossed county lines into Anaheim.
The Wild blanked on another five tries to sit 0-for-16 overall. Like in Game 2, coach Dean Evason scrambled the team's look – rolling out four forwards on one unit and three defensemen on the other. But nothing sparked the Wild, which whiffed on all nine shots it tested Gibson with during the man advantage.
Anaheim also was unsuccessful on the power play, going 0-for-2.
The overall lack of execution from both teams amplified the goalie battle, and Talbot was ready for it.
He was solid in the early going, turning aside looks from forwards Troy Terry and Ryan Getzlaf on the Ducks' first power play. But Talbot really shined as the action progressed.
In the second, he was clutch on a Sonny Milano breakaway, gloved down a rush by winger Max Comtois (who was responsible for all three of the Ducks' goals this season before Deslauriers' tally) and gobbled up a shot from defenseman Cam Fowler just outside the crease.
While it may have come across as Talbot's first breakout performance of the season, he was actually solid in the pair of 4-3 overtime wins in Los Angeles. But his steadiness was overshadowed by the dramatic finishes by the offense.
On a quiet night for the Wild's goal scorers, it was the highlight for the team.
