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DUCKS TAKE SHOW ON THE ROAD

Niedermayer Legit for Hart
Commentary by Karen Francis
Hockeytalk.biz

PHOTO COURTESY ANAHEIM DUCKS
JANUARY 22, 2008 -- ANAHEIM -- Scott Niedermayer has only played 17 games for the Ducks since coming out of semi-retirement. He’s scored 2 goals, 9 assists and the Ducks have a 12-3-2 record with him in the line up. He’s won seemingly every award, medal and recognition available – Stanley Cup, Olympic gold, Conn Smythe, Norris, etc., but there is one award he hasn’t won.

He hasn’t won the Hart Trophy for most valuable player to his team. Niedermayer is making his case for that as humbly and silently as ever.

You tend to not notice Niedermayer because he skates effortlessly and rarely makes an error on the ice. In spite of skating 23 plus minutes each game, he never seems out of breath. The NHL noticed Niedermayer today and put him in the All Star Game. His work in 17 games merited the nod more than others who had played the full season. Without him, the Ducks were mediocre and inconsistent. With him, they are one point away from first in the Pacific Division. Everyone on the team has gotten better with his calming, even-keeled presence that he brings on and off the ice. If that isn’t Hart Trophy material, I don’t know what is.

(***For an opposing view on Scott Niedermayer's potential as a Hart nominee, see Gann Matsuda's latest NHL column)

JANUARY 21, 2008 -- ANAHEIM -- After one more game at home, the Ducks headed out on a three game road trip that included their dads (and in Travis Moen’s case, his brother). Last year the dads brought a little luck to their sons and this year was no different.

GAMES

On a rare Tuesday game, the Ducks reversed the curse of Dallas. Unable to win the previous three games this season, the Ducks turned things around with a strong game against the Stars in front of an appreciative crowd. The 4-2 win moved them within one point of first place in the Pacific Division. The Stars got goals from Niklas Hagman and Loui Eriksson. The Ducks had a beautiful goal from Scott Niedermayer, a wraparound goal by Todd Marchant, and two power play goals from Ryan Getzlaf and Todd Bertuzzi.

Niedermayer, who also had two assists, downplayed his importance, claiming, “The guys have been working hard and trying to play the way we need to as a team. We’re just trying to build something here.”

“He’s the reason why we won the Cup, the main reason” Jean-Sebastien Giguere said, “He makes everybody better on the team.”

“He’s a special player,” Coach Randy Carlyle observed. “Things that he does and how effective he can be with and without the puck. He dominates in a lot of areas.”

At this point, Niedermayer is making a strong case for the Hart Trophy at the end of year by helping the Ducks to go 12-3-2 since his return to the lineup in December.

On Thursday the Ducks took their four game winning streak to Nashville and made it five in a row. Brandon Bochenski deflected Mathieu Schneider’s power play shot late in the first period.

“We had them hemmed in there pretty good,” said Bochenski. “They had a guy lose a stick, so it was almost like a five-on-three. Schneids put a shot pass right to me, and I tipped it in.”

Bochenski has points in his last four games and 2 goals and 4 assists since arriving two weeks ago.

Corey Perry scored his 25th goal of the year in the third period. “They started coming at us, and we had to keep going, said Perry. “That next goal was going to be huge for us. We found a way to get it, and it turned out to be the winner.”

The Predators played with desperation and made it 2-1 with less than five minutes to play on a power play goal by Jason Arnott, but could not tie the game. Chris Pronger blocked a puck with his knee in the first period and did not return to the game. The bruised knee is day to day.

In another back-to-back set of games, the Ducks played the Minnesota Wild on Friday, hoping to extend their winning streak to six. A 4-2 win over the Wild kept them rolling. The Bertuzzi/Perry/Getzlaf line remained sizzling hot as they combined for three goals and six assists. Bertuzzi scored two goals and Perry one.

Chris Pronger, who added a power play goal as well, said, “They have really good chemistry, that line. The way they’re playing and the way they’re handling the puck. When they’re playing and skating the way they were tonight, and the last little while, they’re tough to stop.”

Nick Schultz and Mikko Koivu scored :14 seconds apart for the Wild. Jonas Hiller stopped 25 shots and Josh Harding stopped 23 shots.

The Ducks stopped in Dallas on their way back home. All good things must come to an end, and the Ducks winning streak ended thanks to a lackluster effort by the Ducks. The 5-2 loss to the Stars was best described by coach Carlyle, “It’s one you just throw away. We turn the page on that one because we weren’t very good.”

The Stars had two goals each from Brendan Morrow and Niklas Hagman as well as the opening goal from Stephane Robidas. One of those goals was on the power play and the other was a short handed goal. The Ducks got scoring from Mathieu Schneider on the power play and from Ryan Getzlaf to extend his point scoring streak to 14 games. It is now the third longest streak in Ducks history behind Teemu Selanne at 17 games and 15 games respectively.

INJURY UPDATE

Sami Pahlsson remains on IR with an abdominal strain. He did go with the Ducks on their road trip but is still not ready to come off the IR. He has now missed 13 games, the longest of his seven-year career. Pahlsson experienced another setback last week with soreness when pushing harder in practice. It is unknown when he might be ready to return to the line up.

George Parros was put on IR retroactive to January 9 after it was determined that his bruised knee would take longer than one week to heal. He also went on the road trip, but did not play. He was removed from IR on Sunday and should be available to play on Wednesday against the Red Wings.

Rob Niedermayer suffered a strained groin against San Jose and missed Tuesday’s game against Dallas. He was reinserted into the line up in Nashville.

Chris Pronger was hit in the left knee during the first period in Nashville. Shea Weber’s shot hit him right between his pants and shin pad, leaving a nasty bruise. Pronger acknowledged, “It hurt. It was a hard shot. He got all of that one.” Pronger was thought to be day to day, but didn’t miss a beat and played against the Minnesota Wild the next night.

Brad May, however, left the Wild game in the first period due to a hand injury. He jammed his right thumb and lost the nail. He did not return to the game but did play against Dallas.

ROSTER MOVES

With Pahlsson and Parros on IR and the new injury to Niedermayer, Drew Miller was recalled from Portland on Monday. After having been sent down on January 3, Miller had scored 5 goals and 5 assists in seven games with the Pirates, including his first professional hat trick. His efforts earned him AHL Player of the Week honors and a recall to Anaheim. He played against Dallas on Tuesday on the fourth line, but was a healthy scratch the remainder of the trip. Miller was returned to Portland on Sunday, racking up even more frequent flyer miles.

SPECIALTY TEAMS

The Ducks killed all 3 penalties against Dallas on Tuesday, and 2 against the Wild. They were 1-7 against Nashville and 1-5 against Dallas on Sunday. The penalty kill improved slightly this week to 81.3%, tied for 17th with Chicago.

The power play got back on track and was 2 for 5 against the #1 penalty killing Dallas Stars on Tuesday. It was only 1-5 on Sunday against the same Stars, and the Ducks also gave up a short-handed goal. The Ducks were 1 for 7 against Nashville, and 1 for 4 against Minnesota. The numbers improved overall to 17.1%, 19th in the league. That is the Ducks best this season.

THE STANDINGS

The Ducks are currently 27-18-6 with 60 points. The loss to Dallas on Sunday put the Ducks meant the moved back to second place in the Pacific Division, just one point behind the Stars. Both the Stars and Ducks have played the same number of games. San Jose is three points behind the Ducks, but have played four less games. The Ducks are in 4th place in the Western Conference.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Ducks get to play the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at home and drive up the freeway to play the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. The Ducks then enjoy the All Star break before heading out on the two-week trip from hell with eight games on the road, four of them in back to back games.

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