The Ducks Rookie Face-Off kicked off today with a match against the San Jose Sharks. The Ducks iced what would arguably be their strongest line-up – featuring all of their recent 2021 draft selections attending camp as well as known established commodities Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and the Gulls most consistent and dependable top line.
So it wasn’t really much of a surprise when the Ducks didn’t really let San Jose into the game – at all.
Starting things off with a Zegras tally just 59 seconds in they scored at will throughout the remainder of the game. Tschigerl set up that first goal – a good start for the 2021 fifth round pick that I am pinning all of my Antoine Morand hopes and dreams on.
Then Pastujov and McTavish would add to the lead, the later with a tally on the man-advantage and the former with a nice sweeping rebound goal that illustrated a true goal-scoring ability to be in the right place at the right time.
Other players that stood out from the first period of action were Tyson Hinds (2021 third round pick) and Olen Zellweger. Hinds was immediately noticeable for his reach, gap closing and physical play while Zellweger looked like a forward at times with his aggressive forecheck, offensive mindset and great skating ability.
There was a lot of confusion among some of the general Duck consensus surrounding Hunter Drew playing at forward on the fourth line. Gulls fans are of-course very aware of this and as I have written ad-nausea over the last year, the switch in position really suits his game.
Well Drew announced to those in the Duck faithful still in the dark about this revelation with a perfect goal as the second period got under way. Grabbing the puck and stepping into the slot to fire a wrist shot that surprised everyone with how quickly he got it way. 4-1 Baby Ducks.
The Ducks drew another Power Play and again made the Sharks pay as Perreault was able to setup in the high slot and rip a one-timer from a Brayden Tracey feed.
That rounded out the scoring for the period, other players that grabbed my attention for the second set of twenty included Mason McTavish – as he showed shades of vintage Ryan Kesler as he bullied himself and the puck from the neutral zone all the way to the Sharks net for a chance on a great individual play. Also again Hinds stood out – showing some good foot speed to chase down and break-up a clear-cut Sharks breakaway without taking a penalty by using his long reach.
Henault – a tryout who spent last season in a second tier Finnish league – was looking the more impressive of the two tryouts in action as his transition and offensive game did look eerily similar to Kodie Curran (of whom write-ups about him reminded me of). However; Tourigny – who I had pegged as someone to watch did start to pick it up toward the end of the middle frame, getting himself involved on offense and buzzing the sharks net.
The Sharks got one back to start the third, beating 2021 pick Gage Alexander through traffic less than a minute in to make it 5-2.
The Ducks hit right back off some good work from the Tracey-McTavish-Pastujov line, Tracey likely could have scored moments earlier but elected to pass with a wide-open shooting lane, but Pastujov was still able to collect the loose puck swing up around to the point and fore a pass across to open space where Henault collected it down low and fired it back to Tracey in the high slot. Tracey this time elected to shoot through traffic and Pastujov again was there to collect the rebound and slot it by the prone Sharks goaltender. 6-2.
Max Golod drew a call as he took a stick up high on an offensive zone face-off and tried to get a double minor out of it but could not, a valiant effort none the less. Perreault erased the the man-advantage with a tripping call 20 or 30 seconds into it. Zellweger thrived in space on the four on four, zipping into and out of space with Zegras, Drysdale and Pastujov as the four man unit combined for a pretty goal finished off by Pastujov for the hat-trick. 7-2 Ducks.
Hinds again looked good, sneaking down low for a chance then Zegras put on a clinic with some relentless forechecking, keeping the Sharks in their own zone and unable to clear. Drew came close to getting his second of the game as he hunted down a rebound but was foiled by a good pad stop from the Sharks netminder.
Tracey made a nice heads-up play by faking to shoot from the high slot but sending it across to Tyson Hinds sneaking across the left, his game looks to have definitely matured since last we saw him in a brief stint with the Gulls last season.
Jamie Drysdale was a mostly quiet steadying presence throughout the action but did display an instance of his ability to take a game-over by sweeping down low and feeding Hunter Drew for an opportunity that the converted forward missed high and wide.
San Jose got one back on a five on three but I did find it interesting that Bouchard went with Limoges, Hinds and McTavish for the three main unit. Granted Drysdale and Badini were the two in the box but perhaps a hint that Limoges might be seeing more PK time with the Gulls this season.
BO Groulx took another penalty before the remaining minor could expire to put the Ducks back on the five on three and this time Bouchard went with McTavish, Tourigny and I think Zellweger. The Sharks scored once again, so I am guessing the five on three hasn’t been practiced that much in camp thus far.
Things got further chippy and the Ducks found themselves at four on four again with three minutes left, again Bouchard went with the Zegras, Pastujov, Zellweger and Drysdale combo. The Ducks wound down the clock with possession in the Sharks zone – playing keep away until Jacob Perreault put an exclamation point on proceedings with a goal scored from an impossible angle, quite literally on the goal line.
8-4 final score.
Final Notes:
Is Sasha Pastujov the answer to all of our hopes and prayers? I really don’t know how else to say it but he really was seemingly always in the right place at the right time to collect a rebound and pot a goal. He has no fear of the net whatsoever. I did notice one play in the neutral zone where his foot-speed was easily shutdown which is the only concern in his game that has been noted but given he has elected to go to the OHL specifically to work with a specialist skating coach is a great sign that this part of his game will be improved upon.
Tyson Hinds looked great out there. Possibly the surprise standout player for me. All of the write-ups I read about his game were very evident today, his defensive game looked polished with little to no holes and his offensive game appears to have only just scratched the surface. I am really excited to see what he will do in Juniors this year.
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