The Ducks made their first stop in the Florida portion of their road trip as they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning looking to stop the losing skid at just one game. The first period saw limited action as both squads failed to get on the board and kept things tense. The Lightning were first to strike, as goals from Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos gave them a 2-0 lead to open up the second period. Frank Vatrano would then score the only goal for Anaheim in the game to cut the deficit in half. Before the period came to an end, Stamkos would score once again to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame. The Ducks failed to generate any further success as the Lightning tallied on two more goals in the third and ultimately secured a 5-1 victory.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Ducks struggle to get shots towards the net

For the second straight game, the Ducks failed to get aggressive with the puck and generate some more shots on goal. While Tampa Bay was able to score five goals on 41 shots, Anaheim managed to score just once on 20 shots. The drastic difference allowed for the Lightning to secure many more scoring opportunities and put much more pressure on goalie Lukas Dostal. He was able to save 36/41 shots, but the Anaheim attack did not do him any favors. On the season the Ducks are averaging 29 shots per game, which is the sixth-least in the league. Their 105 goals scored this season is also the fourth-lowest in the league thus far. They will need to do a much better job going forward at generating an attack on offense if they wish to turn things around and start collecting some wins.

Alex Killorn makes his return to Tampa

After spending the first 11 years of his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Alex Killorn headed to Anaheim to join the Ducks this past offseason on a four-year deal. Saturday night’s game marked his first time back in Tampa Bay since parting ways with the team, and he was greeted with a touching tribute video.

Killorn helped the Lightning win 2 Stanley Cups during his time with the team and will always be appreciated by the fans in Tampa Bay. So far this year, he has contributed four goals and 13 assists for the Ducks in his age-34 season. After the game, he spoke about his appreciation for the city of Tampa Bay and his plans to stick around the area once his playing career comes to an end.

Lightning burn the Ducks on power play opportunities

The Lightning found themselves cashing in most of their scores on the night through their three power-play chances. While both teams had three power play opportunities, Tampa Bay was able to capitalize on all three and add on a goal each time. Anaheim was only able to convert once on during their power play chances, leaving them in a struggle to keep up for the entirety of the game. The power play has been an area where the Lightning have thrived the most this season. Their 29.5% success rate in such situations is the best in the league, pointing to their efficiency and ability to take advantage of having one less defenseman on the ice. The Ducks, on the other hand, hover slightly below the league average with a 19.5% success rate.

If they can find a way to improve their PP efficiency, it would go a long way towards raising their goal totals and creating more competitive games each night. The road trip doesn’t get any easier for the Ducks as they head south on Monday to take on another Florida team, the Panthers. They sit in second place in the Atlantic Division with a strong record of 27-13-2.

The game is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. PT.