(Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates after scoring the game-ending shootout goal against the New Jersey Devils’ goaltender Cory Schneider. Photo courtesy of AP/Chris Carlson.)
What a game! For the second straight Sunday, the Anaheim Ducks enjoyed a thrilling come-from-behind victory by an identical score of 6-5. In both of those contests the Ducks trailed entering the third period, but found ways to finish on top. Last week, they beat the Washington Capitals during regulation. This time, Anaheim earned its two standings points in shootouts, as the Ducks turned away the New Jersey Devils in front of 16,470 screaming fans at Honda Center.
The game’s 11 goals came early and often. The Devils struck first as former Anaheim right-winger Kyle Palmieri scored at 1:38 into the contest. However, less than a minute later, the Ducks answered with two goals only 45 seconds apart, as Jakob Silfverberg delivered the first, and then Kiefer Sherwood added the second. Those strikes gave Anaheim a quick 2-1 lead less than three minutes into the game, after the Ducks had only fired three shots on goal against New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider.
Halfway through the opening period, Palmieri struck again to tie the game at 2-2, and about two minutes later, his teammate Damon Severson put the Devils on top, 3-2, in what turned out to be a see-saw battle that lasted all night. In fact, the Devils’ lead was very short-lived as only 31 seconds after Severson’s goal, Brandon Montour knotted the score, 3-3, and that held up through the first intermission.
The second period was far less entertaining as New Jersey’s Brett Seney scored the only goal for either side, giving the Devils a 4-3 lead heading into the dramatic third period.
With about 11 minutes remaining in regulation, Pontus Åberg tied the score, 4-4, with his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Think about that. When the season started, that guy was not even on the team, but now he leads the Ducks in goals. Anaheim made an amazing waivers pickup, perhaps the best one any team has made this season, or in any prior season.
At around the 6-minute mark, Ondrej Kaše put the Ducks back on top, 5-4, with the latest of his many clutch goals. Actually, this time it was New Jersey’s Andy Greene that scored the goal for Kaše, as the Devils’ captain banged the puck into his own net. Have a look:
(Footage courtesy of NHL.)
That marked the third time Sunday that the Devils contributed own-goals. That takes talent. It is not every day that a team puts a puck into its own net, but New Jersey did so three times in one game. Sherwood’s goal served as the first of three, as the rookie’s centering pass ricocheted off of a New Jersey skate into the net. Åberg’s clutch tying goal was actually a backhander from downtown, as the Swede lifted the puck at the blue line and floated it towards the net. That puck would have never come close to getting past Schneider, but former Anaheim defenseman Ben Lovejoy batted it with his hand out of midair which redirected the puck into net. You cannot make up that stuff.
In any event, the Ducks tried to hold onto their slim lead, but failed to do so, as New Jersey’s Marcus Johansson scored his own clutch goal in the final minute to send the game into overtime tied, 5-5.
Sudden death OT was extremely exciting as the Ducks created many excellent scoring chances, but just could not get the puck by Schneider. So, the game went to shootouts. In the first round, neither side scored. The second round started with the Ducks’ newcomer Daniel Sprong for whom Anaheim had traded Marcus “O-Meter” Pettersson last week to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sprong performed an incredible forehand-backhand move to sneak the puck past Schneider.
Then, New Jersey’s leading scorer, Taylor Hall, had a chance to tie the score, but his shot hit the crossbar and stayed out of the goal. That set up Ryan Getzlaf with an opportunity to win the game, and the Ducks’ captain did exactly that. When asked afterward, “what was your plan in the shootout?”, Getzlaf reportedly answered: “oh, I don’t know. Close my eyes and shoot.” Here is the replay of the shots from Sprong, Hall, and Getzlaf:
(Footage courtesy of NHL.)
Getzlaf summed up the night by saying, “yeah, I mean it was obviously a weird game. We’re not used to playing those back-and-forth scoring games like that, so for us to come out on top was big for our group obviously.”
Anaheim’s new additions, Åberg and Sprong, each came up huge on Sunday, and this hockey writer must admit that both of them deserve spots in the starting rotation. I did however like Pettersson, but the truth is that Anaheim is loaded with left-handed defensemen. Rookie Jacob Larsson has turned into a solid two-way player who rarely makes mistakes. He has partnered with Josh Manson on the Ducks’ top D pair, and has earned the right to be there with his consistent play. I imagine when Cam Fowler eventually returns to the lineup, Larsson will cement a third pair spot, thus leaving no room for Pettersson. The Ducks front office foresaw that inevitability, and moved on it.
Speaking of injured players out of the lineup, Anaheim is still missing Rickard Rakell, Patrick Eaves, Corey Perry, and of course, Fowler.
Sunday, one more name got added to that list as Ryan Miller started the game in net, but left during the third period with an injury and never returned. After the game, Head Coach Randy Carlyle had no further updates on Miller’s condition. Miller played 47:10, and had stopped 23-of-27 shots. In relief, John Gibson played the final 17:47, including overtime, and saved 7-of-8 shots that he faced. He also stopped both shootout attempts.
For the Devils, Schneider stopped 32-of-37 shots, and then gave up two goals during shootouts.
With the victory, the Ducks improved to 6-1 in their last seven games, and 8-2 in their last 10. The Tampa Bay Lightning are the only NHL team with a better record during that time, 9-1, and that one loss came against Anaheim. Similarly, only two other teams are 8-2, and one of them is the Caps who the Ducks beat last week.
Anaheim is now five games above .500 with a record of 16-11-5 for 37 points after 32 games. The Ducks own the second-best record in the Pacific Division with a winning percentage of .578. However, the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks have each played fewer games than has Anaheim. By winning their games in hand, both of those teams would leap frog over the Ducks in the standings.
For Carlyle, Sunday’s game served as a milestone, as he became the first person to coach 900 NHL games and play in 1,000.
Finally, I need to comment on a matter, but I am speechless after Anaheim announced that it extended the contract of General Manager Bob “Mediocre” Murray. No words. Those readers that have followed my articles already know how I feel about that news. I just can’t.
The Ducks next host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Until then, Let’s Go Ducks !!
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