The Ducks headed off to Minnesota to take on the Wild as they looked to end their losing drought. The game started off quietly, but eventually, Minnesota got on the board first with just about 6 minutes to go in the first period. The second period saw more struggle from the Ducks as they failed to generate any positive momentum and the Wild scored once more with Kirill Kaprizov’s 34th goal of the season. Anaheim headed to the final 20 minutes down 2-0 and needed a quick comeback to salvage the game. Unfortunately, Minnesota held firm and neither team found the net in the third period. It was a shutout loss for the Ducks as they have now dropped the first 2 games on the road trip.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Fleury needs just 16 saves in 75th career shutout

The lack of aggressiveness for the Ducks this season once again burned them on Thursday afternoon as they suffered another shutout loss. Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury saved all of the 16 shots that Anaheim sent his way as he cruised to the 75th shutout performance of his career. Anaheim currently puts up the fourth-least shots per game this season with an average of 27.23. This mark has simply not been good enough to help the squad remain in competitive games as they have now started the month of March with a 2-5 record. After the game, Fleury himself admitted, “I didn’t do much back there. The guys were awesome.” The Wild found themselves having their way with blocking the majority of the shots that the Ducks created and were able to hold them scoreless as a result. Anaheim has now been blanked in 7 games so far this year, which is the third-most in the league. If the squad wants to put an end to this losing streak, they will need to put forth a much better effort at creating shots and applying pressure to opposing defenses.

Comeback momentum gets reversed on overturned call

As the Ducks headed to the third period down 2-0, they knew that they would need a quick score to get things turned back in their direction. Pavel Regenda was almost the guy to get things going for Anaheim as he had initially been credited with the team’s first score of the game on a shot that appeared to sneak past Marc-Andre Fleury early in the period. It would have made the contest a one-score game, but Minnesota decided to challenge the call. After a review, the goal was taken off the board due to an offsides player on the Ducks. It was a crucial turn of events that left Anaheim in the two-score hole that they were never able to climb out of. They went the rest of the game without another piece of action and left Anaheim with their 40th loss of the year. After the game, right-winger Jacob Silfverberg shared his thoughts.

He acknowledged that while the team did not score any goals, things looked slightly better in the third period. Hopefully, the squad is able to carry on their improved look from the final 20 minutes to their next game as they look to stop the losing streak from growing any larger.

Dostal saves 29 in the loss

It was Lukas Dostal who got the start for the Ducks as they looked to clinch the season series over the Wild. He played a very nice game overall, allowing one goal in each of the first two periods. In the third, he did a great job at making sure that Minnesota did not extend upon their 2-0 lead. He saved 29 of 31 total shots in a losing effort that brought his record this season to 10-18-1. Nonetheless, it was a respectable performance that did not receive any type of support from the Anaheim attack.

The 23-year-old made some impressive saves throughout the contest that helped keep the game as close as it was. He is currently tied for his second-highest win total in a month this season and will have half of March left to improve upon his record. The young goalie is in just his third season as a pro and every game he plays in will only help him improve. Despite the loss that will go on his record, he put up a nice performance that stopped the Ducks from losing in an even uglier fashion.

Anaheim will head north of the border for their next game, a battle against the Jets on Friday afternoon. It will be the second night of a back-to-back for the Ducks, and it comes against a dangerous Winnipeg team that is just 2 points shy of first place in the Central Division.

The game is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. PT.