TAMPA, Fla. — The rest of the Ducks players had their suits on as they headed back to the team bus. Brandon Montour stood out, painfully so but certainly not defiantly so.
“I literally had Lulu pants and a T-shirt,” Montour said, using a reference to Lululemon, the popular apparel manufacturer. “I didn’t even come with a toothbrush so I had to go to the store and grab a toothbrush and a charger for my phone.”
Normally, Montour would have headed back with the San Diego Gulls, ending Friday night on a victorious note after scoring a goal on a breakaway in overtime. Instead, the 22-year-old’s night was far from over.
The Ducks had summoned him after Sami Vatanen was injured in their game against Florida. Montour needed to get across the country to meet them in Tampa, so he went from Ontario to LAX to catch a red-eye flight to Detroit, and then another due south.
And when it was apparent Vatanen couldn’t play Saturday against the Lightning, Montour was suddenly in the Ducks’ lineup.
No time to go suit shopping.
“Obviously their dress code is a little different than ours,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said postgame, not resisting a friendly jab.
Carlyle later added Monday, “It’s amazing that he didn’t have anybody send his clothes from San Diego. Somebody close there. But that didn’t. He is going to New York, the fashion capital.”
That evening, Montour stood out on the ice. A blistering one-time slap shot, which the defenseman has used often to become one of the highest-scoring players at his position in the AHL, sizzled past Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop for his first NHL goal.
Montour’s sudden-change travel plan was only part of weeklong odyssey that had him playing in Tucson with the Gulls the previous week before heading off to Allentown, Pa., for the AHL All-Star festivities. And that had an issue in itself, with one connecting flight delayed that caused him to miss another for his final destination.
“Played Wednesday, played Friday, played Saturday and left Sunday morning to Allentown at 4 a.m.,” Montour said. “Got into Allentown at 11 at night. Missed the first day of All-Star stuff. Got there and had that one day. Got to see my parents and family and came back to San Diego the next day.
“So that was a long one.”
A day off was welcomed Sunday. Montour was running on the kind of adrenaline he said was “just like my first call-up.”
“I’m excited, but obviously I need to get some rest,” he added. “The only time to do it was on the plane.”
Being busted
The Ducks were one of the most heavily penalized teams during Carlyle’s first stint as coach, and they’ve jumped back onto that mantle in his second term.
Eight minor penalties Saturday followed six taken Friday in Florida and that makes 213 in all, putting them second to Calgary’s 236. Stellar goaltending and penalty killing kept the Ducks in both games, but the constant visits are leaving Carlyle irritated with that development.
“There’s some reasoning behind the penalty parade,” Carlyle said. “Obviously we were playing too much in our own zone. We weren’t very clean with the puck in a bunch of situations. We haven’t had that issue in a while.
“In the two games specifically that we weren’t as effective in breaking the puck out, which led to turnovers in the neutral ice. Which led to playing in the defensive zone and then the opposition drawing penalties against us.”
Eight of the 14 minors on their current trip have come in the second period, an area that remains troublesome for the Ducks. They’ve allowed 57 goals in the second, tied for third-most in the league. They’ve allowed 37 in the first, and their 33 allowed in the third is the NHL’s fewest.
“Obviously there’s long [line] changes and discipline, which have been two issues that we’ve raised and talked to,” Carlyle said. “And we will continue because we can’t afford to have stretches in games and more specifically on the road and have success.”
Ailing Vatanen
Vatanen did not skate Monday and it appears likely the defenseman will miss a second consecutive game when the Ducks visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday. Montour was back in Vatanen’s usual spot alongside Cam Fowler.
“The trainers, the medical people make those decisions,” Carlyle said. “They feel he’s not able to skate at this point. He’s taken it to another level as far as activity and the next one will be skating.
“So it’s not something that we perceive as going to be a long-term issue. It’s something that’ll be over in the short term.”
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