Ducks drop home opener to Vancouver Canucks, 2-1, in a shootout

There was a lot for the Ducks to like in their home opener.

They generated chances and held the Vancouver Canucks to one goal. Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau mixed up the lines and they showed flashes of chemistry throughout the lineup.

But the Ducks are still looking for their first win of the season after a 2-1 shootout loss dampened the festivities Monday at Honda Center.

A team that was predicted to win the Stanley Cup is 0-1-1.

“It’s not super frustrating,” defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. “I think you have to be patient, and you have to know that it’s a work in progress and there’s a lot of new guys coming in here. It’s not just going to happen overnight. We played better tonight than we did in San Jose [on Saturday]. A lot better, I thought. We keep building on this thing. and we build some momentum.”

The persistent project known as their power play could not convert a four-on-three advantage in overtime, and Vancouver’s Ryan Miller stopped two of three shootout attempts, the last on Corey Perry to end the game.

It came after the Ducks played their first three-on-three overtime, a new format implemented this season. They managed two shots in the overtime and the general feeling was a familiar one in that they needed to simplify their power play.

“When you get those things, you can’t force plays,” Boudreau said. “We tried to force plays into areas that weren’t there, and when that happens, and they get to clear it, it builds their momentum up and it tears ours down … it’s not a good thing.”

Boudreau reunited Perry and captain Ryan Getzlaf, but the featured line was Carl Hagelin, Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg. The trio combined for 11 shots and held Vancouver’s Henrik and Daniel Sedin to no shots in regulation.

Boudreau used Kesler, Silfverberg and defenseman Cam Fowler to start the three-on-three and various other combinations. The Ducks worked on it in preseason, but there is still a feeling-out period.

“It’s good for you guys,” Boudreau said to reporters of the three-on-three. “But it’s heart-wrenching for the coaches.”

Sami Vatanen ended the Ducks’ season-opening 80-minute-plus scoring drought with a goal 1:56 into the second period. His shot from the right point made it through with the Ducks’ Mike Santorelli and Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton crowding the front of the net.

Vancouver tied it 1-1 in the second on a sharp-angle shot by Adam Cracknell, who fired the puck from the right side of the net and had it bounce oddly over Frederik Andersen’s shoulder.

Andersen was following up a terrific 42-save performance, but he looked vulnerable when Radim Vrbata’s long shot bounced off his blocker and nearly into the net shortly after Cracknell’s goal. Andersen was beaten twice in the shootout, including one that trickled in by Alex Burrows.

Bieksa played his former team for the first time since he came to Anaheim in a trade this summer.

“There was a couple of times during timeouts where you look over,” Bieksa said. “It’s a little different, you know? But I felt once the game started and the puck dropped, it was business as usual.”