The Ducks could not get their offensive attack going tonight in a 5-1 loss to the league-leading Minnesota Wild at Honda Center.
The loss dropped Anaheim to 10-12-3 on the season and 5-9-1 on home ice.
Brock McGinn scored the lone Anaheim goal late in the third period, tipping home Cam Fowler's point shot while parked in front of the Minnesota net. John Gibson made 28 saves in his eighth start of the year for Anaheim.
Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler skated in his 988th game as a Duck in the loss, tying his longtime teammate Corey Perry for second-most in franchise history. Fowler is now 12 games shy of joining former Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf as the only players to appear in 1,000 games with Anaheim.
Minnesota's top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi led the way for the visitors offensively, each posting a three-point night and helping the Wild jump out to a commanding three-goal lead through two periods. Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson earned his 13th win of the season with stops on 26-of-27 Anaheim attempts.
Both sides had good looks at the game's opening goal in the early minutes of the first period, with the Wild twice sneaking pucks through Gibson but not over the line and Mason McTavish ringing the post from in tight on a rush chance, but the score remained blank in the night's early-going.
Instead the first lead of the evening would not come until early in the middle frame, when Rossi converted a backdoor pass from Kaprizov up over Gibson's left pad.
The assist made Kaprizov the third NHL player to reach 40 points this season and fastest Wild skater to accomplish the feat (25 games played), breaking his own club record.
Kaprizov also passed former Wild defenseman Ryan Suter for fifth-most points in franchise history, trailing only Mikko Koivu, Marian Gaborik, Zach Parise and Jared Spurgeon.
The Wild lead would then reach 3-0 on goals from Boldy and Rossi less than three minutes apart. The first came on a tough break for the Ducks, as Gibson accidentally knocked the puck in whole searching for the rebound, while the second was a brilliantly executed tic-tac-toe passing play.
Recently named to Team USA's roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, Boldy ranks second on the Wild in scoring, goals and assists this season. The 23-year-old has four points in his last five games.
Kaprizov pushed the Minnesota advantage to 4-0 less than two minutes into the third period.
McGinn would put the Ducks on the board with just over three minutes to play, working his way to the low slot and redirecting Fowler's point shot just before it reached the net.
