April 2, 2017

The Ducks got a goal from Logan Shaw with just over 3 minutes left on Sunday to defeat the Flames 4-3 in Alberta.  The win put Anaheim back in 1st place in the Pacific Division.

Patrick Eaves, Jakob Silfverberg and Korbinian Holzer also scored for the Ducks.  Ryan Kesler had three assists, while Jonathan Bernier made 18 saves to improve to 10-0-2 in his past 12 games.

The Flames got a pair of goals from Kris Versteeg, and one from Michael Frolik.  Brian Elliott made 30 saves in the loss.

Shaw’s game-winning goal was just his 3rd of the season, and came after he pounced on a rebound right in front of Elliott.

The Ducks took a 3-2 lead late in the 2nd period when Holzer took a pass from Getzlaf and snapped a shot past Elliott.  However, Frolik tipped in a shot from the point at the 5:42 mark of the 3rd to tie the game at 3-3.

Anaheim jumped out to a 2-0 lead after Eaves scored on the power play midway through the 1st period, followed by Silfverberg’s goal with under a minute left in the 1st period.  Versteeg helped the Flames tie up with two power play goals just over 6 minutes apart.

The Ducks and Flames will meet again on Tuesday at the Honda Center, as both teams continue to fight for playoff seeding, and tune up before the start of the postseason.

April 1, 2017

Leon Draisaitl scored on a 2-on-1 in overtime, and the Oilers defeated the Ducks 3-2 on Saturday night in Alberta.  The win tied the Oilers with the Ducks atop the Pacific Division.

The Ducks had a 2-1 lead late in the 3rd period, but Milan Lucic pounced on a rebound with 1:58 left in regulation to tie it up on the power play.  Draisaitl and Connor McDavid picked up the assists on the goal.  McDavid had one goal and two assists for the game.

Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Eaves scored the goals for Anaheim.  John Gibson made 34 saves in the loss.

McDavid put the Oilers on the board with under a minute left in the 1st period.  McDavid benefitted from the hand work from Patrick Maroon on the play.  It was McDavid’s league-leading 92nd point, and extended his scoring streak to 10 consecutive games.

Getzlaf tied it up early in the 2nd period with a slap shot from the point, which got by Oilers goalie Cam Talbot.

The Ducks took the lead just under nine minutes into the 3rd when Eaves took a pass from Antoine Vermette and beat Talbot on the power play.  It was Eaves 29th goal of the season.

However, the Ducks couldn’t hold the lead.  The heroics of Lucic and Draisaitl gave the Oilers 97 points.  Anaheim and Edmonton each have the same number of points with four games remaining.  The Oilers hold the tie breaker.

The Ducks will finish off their road trip against Calgary on Sunday night.  Both teams have clinched a playoff spot, but are battling for playoff seeding.

March 30, 2017

Dustin Byfuglien scored the game-tying goal with 12 seconds left in regulation, and Mark Scheifele had the game-winner in overtime as the Jets rallied to beat the Ducks 4-3 on Thursday.

The Ducks took a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period, however, Winnipeg scored twice in the final 8:25 of the 3rd to tie things up.  Blake Wheeler and Joel Armia also scored for the Jets.

Anaheim got two goals from Corey Perry, and one from Jakob Silfverberg, but it wasn’t enough to keep their 5-game win streak alive.

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle issued a coach’s challenge on Byfuglien’s tying goal, but referees ruled that it was a good goal after a big scramble in the crease.  Jonathan Bernier still managed to turn away 37 shots for Anaheim, despite taking the loss.

Corey Perry said the Ducks just lost focus.  “We didn’t play for the full 60 minutes,” Perry said. “You take your foot off the gas in this league, you’re going to get burnt. You can’t sit back and receive a hockey game, and we did that in the final frame.”

Silfverberg got the Ducks off to a nice start just over 8 minutes into the game, when he beat Michael Hutchinson with a wrist shot to the glove side.

Armia scored short-handed to tie things up at 11:54 when he beat Bernie with a quick low shot.

Perry scored with just over a minute left in the 1st period to put the Ducks back in front.  He would strike again in the 2nd period with a power play goal at the 7:01 mark.

Wheeler’s 24th of the season started the Jets rally in the 3rd, which altered the momentum in the Jets favor.

The Ducks now have five games remaining on their schedule before the playoffs.  They’ll now travel to Edmonton on Saturday to take on the Oilers, followed by a trip to Calgary on Sunday to take on the Flames to finish up their road trip.

March 28, 2017

Corey Perry and Patrick Eaves scored early in the 1st period, and the Ducks handled the Canucks 4-1 in Vancouver on Tuesday night.  The Kings loss to Edmonton earlier in the evening meant that the Ducks, Oilers, and Sharks clinched playoff spots.

Nick Ritchie and Brandon Montour also scored for Anaheim.  Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves and Antoine Vermette had two assists.  Bernier is 9-0-1 with a .947 save percentage in his last 10 starts.

The Ducks played without Ryan Getzlaf, who was a late scratch because of a lower-body injury.  Coach Randy Carlyle confirmed that the injury came about late Monday night.

“He didn’t feel right (Tuesday) morning and couldn’t get it loosened up,” the coach explained. “We just made the decision we’re not going to sacrifice a guy who’s been our best player.”

John Gibson served as the Ducks backup after missing 7 straight games, and 13 of the last 14 games with a lower-body injury.

The Ducks dominated the Canucks, and eliminated them from postseason contention with the victory.  Anaheim had built a 4-0 lead by the middle of the 2nd period.

The Ducks will continue their four game road trip on Thursday in Winnipeg, against the Jets.

March 26, 2017

Ryan Getzlaf had four assists and the Ducks won their 4th straight game, defeating the Rangers on Sunday night 6-3 at the Honda Center.

Andrew Cogliano scored the go-ahead goal early in the 3rd period, and Patrick Eaves scored twice for Anaheim, as the Ducks moved into sole possession of 1st place in the Pacific Division.  With 7 games left to play, Anaheim is two points ahead of San Jose and Edmonton, who were both idle on Sunday.

Ryan Kessler and Josh Manson also scored for the Ducks, who are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.  Jonathan Bernier recorded 25 saves.  For the Rangers, Brady Skjei, Derek Stepan and Rick Nash each scored.  Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves for New York, in what was his first start since March 7th.  Lundqvist had been recovering from a hip injury.

“Getzy’s playing out of his mind right now,” Eaves said. “Just the way he possesses the puck, it makes it really easy to play on his line. And we’ve got [Rickard Rakell] flying and making plays, so I feel like we’re getting some chemistry and that was what I was hoping.”

The Ducks are beginning to look like a team that is peaking at the right time.  Getzlaf has 20 points in his last 12 games, and Sunday night was his seventh career game with at least four assists.

“Obviously, Getzlaf has been the guy that stirs the drink here right now,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Ducks also got strong special teams play on Sunday night.  Kessler’s goal at the 18:00 mark of the 2nd period tied the game at 2-2, and came on the power-play.  That was Anaheim’s first power-play goal in five games.  Manson’s goal also came shorthanded.

The Ducks will return to action on Tuesday night at Vancouver.

March 24, 2017

The Ducks defeated the Jets 3-1 on Friday night at the Honda Center, which tied Anaheim with San Jose for 1st place in the Pacific Division.

Andrew Cogliano scored late in the 2nd period, and Jonathan Bernier continues his solid play with 17 saves.  Corey Perry and Jakob Silfverberg scored as well for Anaheim.

The Ducks have won 3 straight, and Bernier is 7-0-1 in his last 8 starts.  His play in the absence of the injured Jonathan Gibson has given Anaheim renewed hope of winning another division title.

Josh Morrissey scored a power-play goal for the Jets and Michael Hutchinson made 32 saves for Winnipeg.  The Jets were winless in 8 tries this season, against Anaheim, San Jose, and Edmonton, the top 3 teams in the Pacific Division.

Perry got the Ducks off to a nice start late in the 1st period, as he fired a shot through several bodies in front of the net.  After Morrissey tied it, the Ducks took a 2-1 lead when Cogliano threw the puck in front of the net, which bounced off of the Jets’ Jacob Trouba and in.

Anaheim would maintain that lead, and then Silfverberg would add an empty-netter with 1:07 left in the game.

The Ducks will return to action on Sunday against the Rangers.  There’s just 8 games remaining in the regular season for Anaheim.

March 22, 2017

The Ducks and Oilers battled it out at Honda Center on Wednesday night, and Anaheim came away with a 4-3 win in what could be a potential playoff preview.

Anaheim rallied from two different one goal deficits in the 1st period.  Hampus Linholm, Josh Manson, and Rickard Rakell would score three straight goal and the Ducks took back sole possession of 2nd place in the Pacific.

Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves for the Ducks, in what was his 11th straight start in net.  Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot was pulled in the 2nd period after Rakell’s 32nd goal.

“I tried to get to the middle and make a play,” Rakell said. “The first play didn’t work out, so I just tried to do something to beat the defender.”

Oilers forward Connor McDavid scored his 26th goal of the season, which came in highlight reel fashion.  McDavid leads the NHL in scoring, but after his first career goal against the Ducks, Bernier took exception by poking him in the chest later in the period.

The Ducks are still in contention for the Pacific Division title.  The are just 2 points behind San Jose, who has 89 points.

“We were lucky enough to have a 2-2 tie,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We changed our attitude, and we’re much more competitive in the hockey game from the second period on.”

The Ducks return to action on Friday at the Honda Center against Winnipeg.

March 18th, 2017

Patrick Eaves and Jakob Silfverberg scored goals and the Anaheim Ducks took down San Jose to tighten the Pacific Division race with a 2-1 victory over the Sharks on Saturday night.

Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves, which got him his 5th win in his last 6 starts.  Logan Couture scored the lone goal for the Sharks, and Martin Jones made 25 saves.

The Ducks are just four points behind San Jose in the Pacific Division after picking up the win.  Ryan Getzlaf hasn’t given up hope on catching them.  “This is the team we’re chasing,” he said. “You don’t ever want to let them know that we’ve given up. I’m sure they viewed it as a way to put us away for the year. For our group, it’s nice to come out and respond after a tough overtime loss last night.”

Eaves goal came just 39 seconds into the game.  He took advantage of a coverage breakdown by the Sharks in front of their own net.  Couture would tie it up on a power play goal with 47 seconds left in the period.

Silfverberg on a breakaway about 6:30 minutes into the second period, and that would be the game winner.  San Jose would have their chances in the 3rd, but Bernier continued to make the important saves.

This is the 8th straight game between the Sharks and Ducks that was decided by one goal.  Anaheim has won 6 of those 8 games.

The Ducks return to action on Wednesday against the Oilers at the Honda Center.

March 17th, 2017

It took a 10 round shootout, but the Sabres outlasted the Ducks in Anaheim on Friday night 2-1.  Zemgus Girgensons scored the decisive goal in the 10th round of the shootout to give Buffalo the win.

Ryan O’Reilly and Rasmus Ristolainen scored in the shootout as well, which helped the Sabres end a 7-game losing skid in Southern California.  The last time the Sabres won in SoCal was in February of 2012.

O’Reilly scored his 17th goal of the season for Buffalo.  The Ducks goal was scored by Rickard Rakell.  Jonathan Bernier made 30 saves for Anaheim, while Anders Nilsson stopped 39 for the Sabres.

Rakell scored on a rebound at 8:12 of the 1st period, which was his 31st goal, and put Anaheim ahead 1-0.  However, Buffalo would tie it on O’Reilly’s goal 5 minutes into the 2nd period.

The Ducks were hoping for their first 3-game win streak in over two months, but they were unable to capitalize.

This is the first of back-to-back games for the Ducks, who will be visiting San Jose tomorrow night.

March 16th, 2017

Rickard Rakell scored his 30th goal of the season as the Ducks defeated the Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night at the Honda Center.

Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves as the Ducks have regained 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

As many hockey players are, Rakell sounded very selfless.  “It’s fun to score to goals. I always wanted to score goals as much as I could. But as long as we win, I just want to help the team in any way,” he said.

Rakell scored 6 minutes into the game after the Ducks took advantage of a turnover by the Blues.  Getzlaf got the puck to him to help make it happen.

At the 6:37 mark of the 2nd period, Getzlaf made it 2-0 with a wrist shot that beat Jake Allen.  It was his 14th of the season, and turned out to be the game winner.

The Blues got on the board at 9:52 of the 3rd period on  Ivan Barbashev’s goal but they wouldn’t come any closer.

The Ducks return to action on Friday at home against the Sabres.