Ducks clinch playoff spot; Still looking for home ice
by Karen Francis
Hockeytalk.biz

MARCH 31, 2008 -- ANAHEIM -- This week the Ducks broke a franchise record for most wins at home in a season with their 27th home win of the year against Dallas. The Ducks are 27-9-4 at home this season, with one more game left to go. Their strong play at home means that home ice in the playoffs will be beneficial. Only two more points are needed to clinch home ice, at least in the first round.

GAMES

The Ducks saw the Kings for the final time at home on Wednesday, looking to continue their home winning streak. They extended their home winning streak to 10 games with a 2-1 shootout win. They also clinched a playoff spot with the win. Patrick O’Sullivan scored for the Kings, while Bobby Ryan tied up the game with a beautiful power play goal for the Ducks. Kings goalie Erik Ersberg was impressive stopping 39 of 40 shots. “It was a close game, it was a great game by both teams.” Jonas Hiller also stayed hot by making 31 of 32 saves, including a breakaway by Alexander Frolov with just :16 seconds left in regulation. Hiller was humble about his performance. “I think you don’t have time to think about anything at that time. It’s a breakaway. You just try to focus and do what you always try to do and stop the puck. I was happy that I did.”

The Ducks faced the Sharks for the final time in the regular season on Friday, hoping to put in a better effort than last week. They did for a while, but not long enough. Coach Randy Carlyle said, “We’re disappointed with the way we played. We didn’t play to a level emotionally. We seemed to be flat in our execution. We couldn’t get very much going and that’s the disappointment.” Scott Niedermayer had the Ducks only goal on the power play that tied up the game, but that was it. The Sharks got tallies from Patrick Marleau, Jeremy Roenick and Curtis Brown. Roenick earned his 10th game-winning goal of the season and second in a row against the Ducks. The Sharks win gave them the Pacific Division title, which Roenick said was, “Humongous, it’s huge. It’s the first step in the process that we have in our minds right now.”

The Ducks minds were focused on Dallas on Sunday. They did not want to allow the Stars to gain any ground against them, possibly jeopardizing home ice in the first round. It took another shootout for the Ducks to get their two points in the 3-2 win, but they were willing to do whatever it took. Mathieu Schneider scored twice for the Ducks, while Mike Modano and Niklas Hagman scored for the Stars. Schneider was happy for the win. “We’ve certainly had our struggles against them this year. The last couple of games, we’ve reversed their fortunes. It’s been a great back-and-forth series. If we do end up playing them (in the first round), it’s going to be a battle. If we can get home ice, that’s a big bonus for us. We put ourselves in a position that we might be able to.”

INJURY UPDATE

Jean-Sebastien Giguere missed three games with back spasms and was back in net on Sunday against the Dallas Stars.

Ryan Getzlaf also returned on Sunday after missing three games due to a shoulder injury.

Ryan Carter began physical therapy on his hand and saw a hand specialist in Minnesota over the weekend. He will begin practicing with the team on Tuesday and is listed as “possible” for one of the games this weekend.

Corey Perry is recovering from his lacerated right quadriceps. He is doing well with physical therapy and he is riding the exercise bike, albeit slowly. His best case scenario would be to return at some point during the first round, but is more likely to be the second round of the playoffs.

ROSTER MOVES

Jean-Sebastien Aubin backed up Jonas Hiller for two games and was a healthy scratch on Friday while Jean-Sebastien Giguere was deemed well enough for back up. Aubin was sent back to Portland on Saturday. He got a shutout for the Pirates on Sunday.

SPECIALTY TEAMS

The power play remained the same this week at 16.7%. They moved up two spots to 20th overall scoring on 3 of 15 attempts. The penalty kill also remained constant at 83.1%. Overall, they moved up a notch to 12th place by stopping 8 of 10 attempts.

THE STANDINGS

The Ducks have 98 points with a 45-27-8 record. While San Jose has clinched the Pacific Division title this year, the Ducks are still able to clinch home ice in the first round with two more points. The Ducks maintained their five point lead over Dallas, who at this point are their likely first round opponents. Three spots have yet to be clinched in the Western Conference and playoff positioning will likely not be determined until the final day of the regular season.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Ducks will take a five day break before playing their final two games of the year back-to-back with the Kings and the Coyotes.

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2008 Western Hockey Network