Ducks look to eliminate slow starts

The questions about the Ducks’ slow starts continue after they gave up two goals in the first 2:22 of a 4-3 victory over the Predators on Thursday at Nashville.

But in their five-game winning streak, it’s also worth noting they’ve outscored teams 20-7 after the first period.

“It’s all five guys being much tighter,” defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. “One of the best parts of our team is our forechecking and our offensive zone play. We have four lines that can grind in the offensive zone and are difficult to play against.

“With our first-period struggles, we’ve tried to make fancy plays, turning pucks over. We’re not playing as smart. When we’re at our best, we’re being simple, scoring goals the right way.”

Lovejoy admitted the slow starts have led to some loud first intermissions.

“After the first period, we’ve gotten yelled at, talked about the game we need to be successful,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to get the puck into the offensive zone, and in the second and third periods, we’re getting back to that and that’s when we start rolling.”