MARCH 24, 2008 -- ANAHEIM -- The Ducks had three road games last week and struggled to find their offense. They also struggled with new injuries at a time they can least afford them. Now is the time for everyone to step up and one of those players has been Jonas Hiller. Hiller has been exceptional in his past few games, continuing to give the Ducks chances to win.

As back-up to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Hiller has been overlooked but his stats are just as good as Gigueres. Giguere has a 2.11 goals against average and .923 save percentage. Hiller has a 2.09 goals against average and .926 save percentage. Without excellent goaltending the pressure for the Ducks to score would be even higher.

GAMES

The Ducks took on Dallas on Wednesday and earned a rare 2-1 victory thanks to excellent special teams play. It was only the Ducks second win in seven tries this season. Although the Ducks gave up a short-handed goal to Brendan Morrow, the Ducks persevered. They had to kill off seven penalties, including a double minor wrongly assessed to Rob Niedermayer in the third period. Replays clearly showed Mike Ribiero getting high sticked from one of his teammates, not Niedermayer, who was in the area. The Stars did not get any shots on goal during the entire four minutes and the Ducks took that momentum with them. They also got two power play goals of their own, the first coming from Scott Niedermayer early in the second period to tie up the game. Then with Morrow in the box for interference, Todd Bertuzzi beat Marty Turco point blank with just :27.2 seconds to play in regulation. Bertuzzi reflected, “I just wanted to get it on net as quick as possible.” Instead of giving up a point in overtime, the Ducks took both points and extended their lead over Dallas to three points in the standings. Jean-Sebastien Giguere said, “We wanted to let them know either at home or on the road we’ll be a tough team to beat.”

The Ducks played the Sharks in San Jose on Friday. The Ducks had hoped to close the gap between themselves and the Pacific Division leaders, but with a 2-1 loss, they saw the gap widen. Jonas Hiller got the surprise start in goal as Giguere was suffering from back spasms in the warm-ups. Hiller was outstanding in goal, stopping 41 of 43 shots. He let in Joe Thornton’s goal on the first shift of the game, settled into his role and did not let in another until the third period when Jeremy Roenick scored on the Sharks second 5 on 3 opportunity. The Ducks only goal came in the second period from Todd Marchant, who caught Evgeni Nabokov out of position. Nabokov did not have much work at all in the whole game, especially the third period when the Ducks had zero shots on goal. Coach Randy Carlyle said, “We didn’t execute. They trapped in the neutral ice, and we kept turning the puck over. We didn’t play very good. I’ll tell you that. We’ve got to play to a much higher level than that.”

After a poor result in San Jose, the Ducks got to play another back-to-back game against the Coyotes on Saturday. The still struggled with shots on goal (15 instead of 13 from the night before), but Teemu Selanne scored twice for the Ducks and that was enough in yet another 2-1 game. “Obviously, nobody is happy about the way we have played the last couple of games," Selanne said. "Some nights, like tonight, it's not going to be pretty, but you have to find a way to win." Hiller got the second consecutive start in goal and stopped 30 more shots. Ed Jovanovski had the only goal for Phoenix on the power play.

MARCHANT NOMINATED FOR THE MASTERTON

Todd Marchant was nominated for the Masterton Trophy, which is awarded every year for perseverance and dedication to hockey. Marchant is very involved with local charities and in spite of injuries and difficulties, has persevered in his hockey career. During last year’s playoffs when he was recovering from hernia surgery, Marchant missed the final games of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs. He looked for other ways to contribute to the team and came up with the T-shirt idea that eventually read: Destiny is Heart, Sacrifice and Passion. Those shirts have now been sold in the Team Store with proceeds benefiting the Ducks Care foundation.

INJURY UPDATE

Jean-Sebastien Giguere suffered back spasms on Friday afternoon and was unable to play against San Jose. He was listed as day-to-day and a back up was called from Portland for the Phoenix game. Giguere is receiving treatment and expected to be ready to go on Wednesday against the Kings.

Ryan Getzlaf suffered an upper body injury against San Jose and did not play against Phoenix. He is also expected to be ready to play again by Wednesday.

Ryan Carter had his cast and the pins removed from his wrist. He is now skating on his own and regaining mobility in his right hand. There is still no timeframe for his return.

Corey Perry has been able to leave the crutches behind and is now working on regaining mobility in his right leg. The tendon laceration is still healing, but Perry has had much success recovering the range of motion in his leg, an encouraging sign. He began working out on the bike at a very slow pace, so as not to reopen his stitches. Perry is definitely making positive progress.

ROSTER MOVES

Jean-Sebastien Aubin was called up from Portland to be the back up goalie in Phoenix. Aubin has played well in Portland since being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for a draft pick at the trade deadline. Aubin will remain with Anaheim as long as Giguere has his back spasms.

SPECIALTY TEAMS

The power play is slowly warming up. The Ducks were 3 for 13 on the week and improved to 16.6%. They moved up one spot to 22nd overall. There is room for improvement, but at least the Ducks are headed in the right direction.

The penalty kill continued to be good this week. The Ducks improved slightly to 83.2%, also moving up a notch to 13th overall. The Ducks allowed two power play goals in 19 chances. One of those goals came when the Ducks were down by two men.

The Scotty Bowman standard for specialty teams is that both your power play and penalty kill numbers should add up to 100 or more. The Ducks have yet to reach that plateau this season, although at 99.8 this week they are edging closer.

THE STANDINGS

The Ducks have 94 points with a 43-26-8 record. The loss to San Jose made it all but certain that the Sharks will remain the Pacific Division leader on April 6. However, the Ducks did increase their lead over Dallas to five points. The Ducks are solidly in 2nd place in the division and 4th overall, meaning they should have home ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Ducks have three more games at home against Los Angeles, San Jose and Dallas. They only need one more point to clinch a playoff spot or for Nashville to lose one potential point, something that seems inevitable. This will be the third year in a row that the Ducks have made the post-season.

Top

2008 Western Hockey Network