The Ducks snapped out of their funk in a major way at the Xcel Energy Center, notching their first shutout since January 4 and their second win in their last six outings.
Corey Perry scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season, and Bobby Ryan notched #13 against Wild goalie Josh Backstrom, who was his usual great self, making 31 saves.
The Ducks also helped Hiller by greatly limiting their giveaways (they had just 6), and Carlyle did some serious surgery on the lines. This is what they looked like:
Perry-Pahlsson-Miller
Morrison-Getzlaf-Kunitz
Moen-Carter-R.Niedermayer
Bodie-Ebbett-Ryan
It’s also worth noting that Pronger skated a team-high 34 shifts, with Mikkelson right behind at 33. Scott Niedermayer, by contrast, skated 29. Nearly every defenseman skated with the other at some point, with the possible exception of Nathan McIver, who I’m pretty sure was with Pronger for each of his 14 shifts; Brett Festerling is still resting the knee injury he sustained Wednesday against Detroit.
Playing that many shifts in a 3-0 game represents a great vote of confidence for Mikkelson, who is making his case to stay in the NHL beyond the duration of Kent Huskins’ injury. That’s another big decision on the horizon for Carlyle and Bob Murray.
Game summary here; event summary here; game highlights here; AP gamer here.