Mason McTavish, Ducks topple Winnipeg, welcome fans back in season opener

ANAHEIM — A roaring, chanting, orange-and-black clad assemblage greeted the Ducks upon their instrumentality to Honda Center for the opening nighttime of the 2021-22 season. A feeling of familiarity dispersed done the 28-year-old arena astatine the country of Katella and Douglass aft a bleak play successful which fans were mostly banned.

The roar of the crowd, absent due to the fact that of the COVID-19 pandemic, washed implicit the Ducks during their 4-1 triumph implicit the Winnipeg Jets connected Wednesday, a invited motion that thing resembling mean beingness mightiness beryllium connected the mode sooner than later. It wasn’t a afloat house, but the fans were loud.

Fans cheered the Ducks arsenic they were introduced earlier the game, the loudest applause saved for longtime skipper Ryan Getzlaf, goaltender John Gibson, 3rd wide draught prime Mason McTavish and caller first-round selections Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras. Coach Dallas Eakins was cheered, too.

“I deliberation without fans, there’s nary game,” Eakins had said beforehand erstwhile asked of the anticipation of a afloat arena Wednesday. “So, it’s a bully day.”

Then, for the opening minutes, the Ducks were no-shows to their ain party. The Jets swarmed them from the opening faceoff, controlling the puck and putting Gibson nether siege. It was arsenic if the Ducks had gorged themselves astatine 1 of the nutrient trucks parked extracurricular the arena.

Finally, aft the Jets outshot them 7-0, the Ducks gave their fans plentifulness to cheer. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk flipped a changeable from the close helping done postulation and into the backmost of Connor Hellebuyck’s nett for a 1-0 pb connected the Ducks’ archetypal changeable connected goal, astatine 6:11 of the opening period.

McTavish past enactment the crowd, himself and his teammates into a frenzy by becoming the youngest subordinate successful Ducks past to people a goal, astatine 18 years, 256 days. A video reappraisal was needed to close a referee’s speedy whistle. There was nary uncertainty the puck was loose.

McTavish was 1 of 4 rookies successful the Ducks’ lineup and their second-youngest to look successful a crippled aft Oleg Tverdovsky, who was 8 days younger erstwhile helium made his NHL debut successful 1994. McTavish was successful the lineup lone due to the fact that Max Jones had a non-COVID-related illness.

In the 2nd period, aft Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored to chopped the Ducks’ pb to 2-1 astatine 3:48, McTavish assisted connected Adam Henrique’s power-play extremity that restored their two-goal pb astatine 13:20. McTavish past felt the wrath of the Jets, with Dylan DeMelo kneeing him on the boards.

The Ducks’ powerfulness play was among the little distinguished aspects of their crippled during the pandemic-shortened, 56-game season, erstwhile they finished with an abysmal 8.9 percent occurrence rate, the worst successful NHL history. So, Henrique’s man-advantage extremity held added significance.

Rickard Rakell sealed the woody with a power-play extremity 6:20 into the 3rd period, making it 4-1 and prompting the fans to impulse the Ducks to people a fifth, chanting, “We privation chicken,” which was a giveaway successful past seasons. Drysdale and Getzlaf assisted connected Rakell’s goal.

More to travel connected this story.