GAMES

On Sunday the Ducks played the first of three games against the Sharks this week. Scott Niedermayer’s season debut was greeted with much cheering and shouting. Doug Weight made his first appearance in a Ducks uniform and had some instant chemistry with his new linemates, Todd Bertuzzi and newly called up Bobby Ryan. Ryan scored the only goal for the Ducks, who scored first for the first time in 13 games. Weight said “The guys have been talking before the game about getting the lead. It was nice to get that one and see Bobby score.” Weight’s assist, thanks to a perfect cross ice pass, was #697 of his career. He is just three assists away from being the fifth U.S. born player to reach 700 assists. Torrey Mitchell scored short handed for the Sharks. In overtime, Niedermayer had a great chance to get the extra point. “I kind of thought there was a chance it might go. Their goalie was kind of caught on the other side when I carried it across. Obviously, I just didn’t make the shot.” The Ducks then proceeded to the shootout which took six rounds to resolve, with the Sharks coming out the eventual winners, 2-1.

The instant rematch occurred on Tuesday in San Jose. Jean-Sebastien Giguere earned his first shut out in a year with a 2-0 victory over the Sharks. Corey Perry got the first goal and Bobby Ryan got his second goal in two games on the power play. Giguere was grinning from ear to ear after the game and admitted that somehow the Ducks always “bring their ‘A’ game” to the Shark Tank. It was a very physical game with plenty of hitting, roughing and fighting. Would they have anything left in the tank to travel home and play the second of back to back games? Yes.

On Wednesday the Ducks took advantage of an injury plagued Colorado who were missing key players in Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth. The 2-1 overtime score does not tell the whole story. Without goaltender Peter Budaj, the Avs would have had no chance for a point. Budaj stopped 36 of 38 goals compared to Jonas Hiller who stopped 11 of 12 shots. The puck seemed to be in Colorado’s end all night long and the Ducks formidable defense did all the scoring – Chris Pronger in regulation and Mathieu Schneider getting the overtime winner. Randy Carlyle praised their “never say die” attitude as the Ducks had to come from behind in the third period to take it to overtime. The confidence continues to grow in the locker room.

On Saturday, the Ducks went back to San Jose again for the final Shark match up of the week. The Sharks outhit and outshot the Ducks, but the Ducks got goals from Chris Pronger, Corey Perry (power play), Chris Kunitz, Todd Bertuzzi and Sean O’Donnell added one to an empty net. San Jose finally got their first goal past Giguere after being shut out for five consecutive periods. Patrick Marleau and Marcel Goc both scored in the third period, Marleau’s coming on the power play. It was the first power play goal by an opposing team since Scott Niedermayer returned and the first in 20 previous attempts. The Ducks went into their Christmas break on a three game winning streak and tied in points with the Sharks as a result of their efforts all week.

Ryan Carter was called up from Portland due to the injury to Brad May. He earned his first career NHL point with an assist on Pronger’s goal in the win over Colorado.

Brad May wins the warrior award this week. He took a puck to his foot at practice on December 15. He left with it swollen, wrapped, tender and hobbling on crutches. The next day, he played 7:30 minutes on the fourth line against San Jose. Monday’s MRI revealed a broken bone and he was placed on the IR.

Brian Sutherby is back on the IR with a groin injury. He returned too quickly from the initial injury and it flared up in his first game back.

Kent Huskins was taken off IR and was inserted into the line up against San Jose on Tuesday. His knee is completely healed.

The penalty kill has been very good this week. After a horrible game against Minnesota that saw four consecutive power play goals, the Ducks killed every penalty until last night. Overall they killed 19 out of 20 penalties for the week. That moves them up a notch to 23rd with 80.2% success rate. You cannot discount Scott Niedermayer’s contributions to this stat improving and it should go up as time progresses.

The power play is at 15.1% this week, 22nd in the league. This is one area that the Ducks need to continue to improve.

The Ducks are currently 18-15-5 on the season with 41 points. The Ducks are tied with the Sharks for second place in the Pacific Division, primarily due to three strong games where they earned 5 out of 6 points against their division rivals. They have closed the gap between themselves and the division leading Dallas Stars to 3 points. The Ducks moved up to 7th place in the Western Conference. Seeing as the Ducks have played the most games of all the teams, they need to continue to earn points when possible.

The Ducks get an extra day in their Christmas break to celebrate with their families and loved ones. Then they head out on Wednesday for another Canadian road trip that starts in Edmonton on Thursday, Calgary on Saturday and Vancouver on Sunday. The Ducks are always on the road after Christmas and tend to have difficulties after the holiday. The Ducks will look to make a dent in the Northwest Division.  The club is only 2-6-1 against the Northwest this season.

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2008 Western Hockey Network 

It's Shark Week!
(Dec 16, 2007)

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back (Dec 9, 2007)

Cup Hangover Tops List of Struggles (Dec 5, 2007)

Ducks Lack Consistency
(Dec 3, 2007)

Ducks Thanksgiving Review/Preview (Nov 25, 2007)

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