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NHL: Ducks

OFFENSE FOUND

ANAHEIM -- JANUARY 14, 2008 -- The Ducks have been unable to generate more than 2 goals per game for most of the season. This week the Ducks pushed the “Easy” button (like the popular office supply store commercial suggests) and scored 10 goals in two games.

After Wednesday’s game, Coach Randy Carlyle said, “We talked about our inability to score goals probably for 30-plus games. Now that we’ve finally scored a couple in back-to-back games, we feel pretty good about ourselves.” Doug Weight commented, “It does feel good to have back to back games with five goals and having guys throughout the lineup contributing.” All Ducks fans can say is that it’s about time.

ALL STARS

Although no Ducks were voted to be starters in the All Star game in Atlanta on January 27, two Ducks were named to the Western Conference team on Thursday. Ryan Getzlaf will play in his first All Star game after playing in the Young Stars game. Chris Pronger will also make his sixth appearance. Although goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere and defenseman Francois Beauchemin were on the All Star Ballot, neither of them was named to the final team. Corey Perry, who is tied with Rick Nash and Eric Staal for 10th overall in goals this year with 23 thus far, was also overlooked.

GAMES

On Monday the Ducks played the Nashville Predators and rediscovered their ability to score in a 5-2 win. After a horrid first 12 – 15 minutes, the Ducks finally woke up. In the second period they got goals from Travis Moen, Chris Kunitz, Chris Pronger and Corey Perry in an 8:07 time span. The Perry and Pronger goals came on the power play, including a 5 on 3 goal. Ryan Getzlaf finished off the scoring in the third period. The Predators got two power goals from Marek Zidlicky and J.P. Dumont.

"(We) weren’t doing the small things right,” said wing Travis Moen.

Moen's summary of what coach Randy Carlyle told them between periods: “Start playing better!”

Perry felt that scoring more than two goals helped “take the monkey off our backs.”

The monkey was clearly off on Wednesday when the Ducks played the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs had not visited Anaheim since November 2003 when the Ducks beat them 5-1. On Wednesday, they shut them out, 5-0. Toronto is more than happy to avoid Anaheim for four more years. The Ducks killed all nine penalties and were 2 for 4 on the power play. The Ducks got goals from Todd Bertuzzi, Corey Perry, Brandon Bochenski (his first of the year and first as a Duck). Doug Weight and Chris Kunitz scored on the power play. Weight also scored his 700th career assist, becoming the 5th American player to do so.

“It’s really a feat I’m proud of. That’s my game,” said Weight.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere earned his 27th career shut out, tying Guy Hebert for the club record. It was Giguere’s second shut out of the year.

After a three day rest the Ducks played division rival San Jose Sharks. Even though the Sharks played the night before, they looked like the better team for most of the game. Specialty teams for the Ducks did not perform. They were 0 for 5 on the power play and let in a short handed goal on one of them. They killed 2 of 3 penalties. The Sharks were leading with goals from Jeremy Roenick, Torrey Mitchell and Milan Michalek. The Ducks got goals from Todd Bertuzzi and Corey Perry. Giguere kept them in the game, making many key saves. Thomas Greiss made his NHL debut at the other end giving Evgeni Nabokov the night off, the first time in 44 games this season. With Giguere pulled for the extra attacker, Doug Weight tried to make a pass to Perry. Instead, it bounced off Alexei Semenov’s skate and into the net to tie up the game with :27.7 seconds left.

“I was just throwing it near feet – and got a lucky bounce,” said Weight.

After Weight's goal, the Ducks wasted no time, with Francois Beauchemin getting the game winner just :33 seconds into overtime, his first goal since his game winner on October 10, the home opener. The Ducks left one point closer to the Sharks and two points closer to the Stars.

INJURY UPDATE

Sami Pahlsson upped his skating regimen this week and returned to his usual line at practice. However, he was still deemed to be not ready and did not play on Sunday. He is getting closer and should be ready within the week.

Brad May began skating this week and is wearing a protective device on his right foot. He was removed from the IR on Saturday and inserted into the line up on Sunday where he played on the fourth line.

George Parros suffered a knee on knee hit from Wade Belak on Wednesday that prompted his fight with the Leafs forward. The diagnosis was a bruised knee. Parros skated very briefly on Saturday and continues to receive treatment for the injury. He missed Sunday’s game and remains day to day.

ROSTER MOVES

Bobby Ryan was reassigned to Portland on Wednesday afternoon. He had been a healthy scratch since Brandon Bochenski had arrived in a trade from Boston. Previous to being sent down, Ryan acknowledged he needed to do the necessary things to get back into the line up – “Continue to be the first guy here every day and the last guy to leave. Continue to do things you’re supposed to do. Work hard, ride the bike, make sure my weight’s down. I’m on top of my off ice issues as well."

Ryan scored 2 goals and 2 assists during the nine games he played on his most recent stint in Anaheim.

In a minor league deal, Matt Keith was traded to the New York Islanders organization in exchange for Darryl Bootland.

SPECIALTY TEAMS

The penalty kill was great against Toronto, killing all 9 penalties. The Ducks only killed 2 of 4 penalties against Nashville, and 1 of 3 against San Jose. The penalty kill dropped fractionally to 80.8% this week, 21st in the league.

The power play improved and then took a pause. The Ducks were 2 for 3 against Nashville and 2 for 4 against Toronto, but then stalled against San Jose, going 0 for 5. Still the numbers improved to 16.4%, 22nd in the league.

THE STANDINGS

The Ducks are currently 24-17-6 with 54 points. The Ducks are 3 points behind Pacific Division leading San Jose and 1 point behind Dallas. Tuesday’s game against the Stars is huge. If they win, they go ahead of the Stars and come within a point of San Jose. If they lose, they get further behind in the Division. The Ducks are in 6th place in the Western Conference, tied with Minnesota and Vancouver in points. Their strong performance since the first of the year continues to keep the Ducks in a playoff spot.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Carlyle said that even though the offense was there against Nashville and Toronto, the team did play poorly in the first period of both games.

“You have to be prepared to play the game at a high level, or you’ll be embarrassed," said the Coach.

The Ducks have a chance to redeem themselves against Dallas on Tuesday at home. After that, they head out to see Nashville on Thursday and Minnesota on Friday in yet another back-to-back set of games.

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2008 Western Hockey Network

ANAHEIM DUCKS