After what was arguably their worst performance of the season against the Canadiens, the Ducks headed to Ottawa looking to grab their first win of a four-game road trip. Pavel Mintyukov, who was playing in his second game back from injury, got the scoring going for the Ducks with his goal in the first period. In the second, all-star Frank Vatrano and Mason McTavish would each score goals to give the team a 3-0 lead heading to the final frame of action. McTavish would strike for the second time in the third to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead and put them fully in the driver’s seat. Claude Giroux and Cam Fowler would trade goals before the final buzzer sounded off, and Anaheim was able to secure a smooth 5-1 win.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

McTavish leads the way with 2 scores

The Ducks played much better team hockey on Thursday night as they managed to put up 5 goals of their own after getting shutout 5-0 on Tuesday. In the middle of the action was Mason McTavish, who delivered back-to-back goals to help Anaheim stretch their lead. The first came on a rocket from the right side late in the second period to make it a 3-0 game.

The second came courtesy of a beautiful feed from Troy Terry, who dropped the puck in perfectly for McTavish to land it in the net. With his two-point evening, he’s up to 33 points on the season (4th on the Ducks).

It was quite the homecoming for the 21-year-old, who grew up in Carp, Ontario. He definitely brought his best and was a key part of the great team win.

Vatrano, Fowler have 3-point nights

The Ducks got contributions from a wide variety of players in the win over Ottawa, and it was widely thanks to the performances of Frank Vatrano and Cam Fowler. Each of them was able to add on with a goal and 2 assists respectively. For Vatrano, the 3-point performance boosted him into the 40-point range on the season, as he now sits at 41.

As for Fowler, he now stands at 27 points this season. The 32-year-old is in the midst of his 14th season and has been a member of the club for the entirety of his career. Following the contest, he spoke about the team’s great bounce back effort on the road.

After playing in all 82 games last season, he’s proving his reliability once again in 2024 and did a great job facilitating the puck for his squad in the victory.

Gibson goes down with injury, Dostal handles rest of game

Goalie John Gibson got the start for the Ducks on Thursday night and was making the most of it. Through 2 periods, he was able to stop all 15 shots that the Senators had thrown his way as the team looked to be cruising. However, he was forced to exit the game after suffering an upper-body injury as he was run over by Drake Batherson (Ottawa) and Ilya Lyubushkin (Anaheim). Lukas Dostal was forced to come into the game in relief and held things down nicely for the remainder of the contest. He managed to make 18 stops in relief while allowing one score as the Ducks reached the finish line with a victory in their pocket. Hopefully, Gibson’s injury was nothing serious and he will be able to get back out on the ice in no time. Nonetheless, it was a solid effort from both goalies as they battled against the adversity and held it down for the team.

Up next for the Ducks is their final stop in Canada as they battle the Maple Leafs on Saturday afternoon. Toronto is 28-16-8 so far this season, and they took the previous matchup against Anaheim this season with a 2-1 victory back in early January.

The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. PT.