Gibson hurt in sixth straight loss
He leaves the game after a collision in the second period of the Ducks’ setback.
OTTAWA 4 DUCKS 0
OTTAWA — Adam Henrique likes to focus on the small things. Anything to get the Ducks back in the win column.
They tried again on Thursday night, only to be shut out by a team’s backup goaltender in a 4-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
“The details of our game aren’t strong enough to win 1-0 right now,” Henrique said. “Night in, night out, it’s tough, but the only way out of it is together.”
The Ducks continued to struggle. They’ve lost six straight and are 2-14-4 since Dec. 17. Thursday’s game was the fourth of a five-game trip that ends Saturday in Philadelphia.
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said he felt his team had a number of chances, but at the same time still failed to play well enough defensively. Anaheim outshot Ottawa 17-8 in the first period, but just couldn’t find a way to beat backup goalie Anders Nilsson.
“There’s been no reward for any of the work that we’ve put in,” Carlyle said. “That’s the confidence issue. You’ve got to try and build your people up and stay focused on the simple things and try to provide them with two things that they can focus on and build on and there’s lots of positives in [Thursday’s] game, but the big negative is we lost.”
John Gibson was pulled for the fourth straight game, this time for an apparent injury. He made 22 saves before being replaced for the third period after a collision with teammate Jaycob Megna late in the second. Chad Johnson came on and stopped nine of 10 shots.
Nilsson helped Ottawa end a five-game skid without much of a scare at all. Nilsson stopped 45 shots for his first shutout of the season.
“The shutout was a bonus,” Nilsson said. “It was great to get back to winning again. Think it was great for the whole team to snap this losing streak.”
Matt Duchene led the way with two goals for the Senators. Brady Tkachuk and Mark Stone also scored.
The Senators were playing the second half of a back-to-back after losing 5-4 to the Toronto Maple Leafs but continued to press in the third.
Stone scored his 23rd, beating Gibson to take a 3-0 lead, and Duchene added an empty-net goal.