Ducks 3, Sabres 2. Updates with quotes.
The Ducks beat the Sabres, 3-2 at Honda Center, in a ridiculously physical game that saw Bobby Ryan emerge from the Ducks' tunnel five times: At the beginning of each period, and once during each of the first two periods following a bone-crunching hit. It might be the most applause the 21-year-old has received in a game without scoring a goal.
Chris Pronger, Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry did the scoring, and the Ducks didn't go short-handed until 10:28 of the final period -- a remarkable stat considering the Sabres attempted to draw the Ducks into a fighting major with almost every play that ended close to the net. (Which they did on three occasions, however, Buffalo always seemed to get penalized too.)
Jonas Hiller stopped 21 of 23 shots, getting plenty of help from a defense that allowed only six shots in the middle period and seven in the third. It's the first back-to-back wins for the Ducks since Jan. 4 and 6 (Phoenix and L.A.)
As for Bobby Ryan's bumps and bruises, Carlyle was blunt enough to paint them, basically, as a tough lesson in learning how to get out of the way: "Everybody gets hit. Games like this, you're going to get hit. I think in some situations, he's got to learn to protect himself a little better. Don't leave himself so vulnerable. Things have been easy - the NHL's not an easy league. The important thing is that he learns that when he passes the puck, he knows who's on the ice specifically. Know who you're playing against at all times. You've got to know who's out there. The next thing is, when you move the puck, put a shot on net, or pass the puck, you're not admiring what you just did or what you tried to do. In those situations tonight, that's what he did."
Game summary here; event summary here; highlights here.
The rest of your postgame quotes:
Chris Pronger
On the team's recent play
We have to continue to build on our last game. Tonight's a good game to build on. We have to come out on Wednesday in
On the team's goaltending
Hiller's making the big stops when we need it. We've had to rely on him. It's big to have two goalies like that. It doesn't matter which one you throw in. You know you have a guy back there that can win you a game or hold a lead when you need it. We're starting to get that confidence in those guys and in ourselves with the way we're playing defensively. It's a sign in the right direction. We just hope to continue it.
Corey Perry
On his goal
It was a good shot by Monty. It just squeaked through the goalie and it was sitting there on the line. Those are the kind of goals we need to have coming down the stretch. They call them garbage goals, but somebody has to be there.
On the team's recent play
We're playing a full 60 minutes and staying to our structure. When we play that way, we're a tough team to play against. It's nice to have three of four. We just have to keep it going. It's a battle out there. These points are crucial. We're after the All-Star break, so everybody is pushing for playoff spots.
Randy Carlyle
On the team's recent play
We're not playing the majority of the game in our zone, or trying to defense. Probably the biggest change in the last three or four games is we've put the puck in deep and go to work. That has allowed us to play more in the offensive zone from a standpoint of the cycle game and it's led to us not drawing the penalties in the defensive zone or the neutral ice.
On finding consistency
I think it's important that you look back on the game in Colorado. To me, the first two periods we were turning the puck over, doing nothing but making life difficult for ourselves. For 18 minutes of the third period in Colorado, we didn't turn the puck over at all. We put the puck in deep and went to work. We got the winning goal based upon that. That's what you have to do, not only on the road but at home.
On putting three shots on goal the whole first period
We didn't get shots through. We got lots of shots back, and we missed opportunities to shoot the puck. I remember Getzlaf making a pass to Perry - he should have shot the puck. Direct the puck toward the net, you know. Sometimes that rebound's as good as a pass. That's what we've talked about.
On the physical nature of the game
The games, specifically in the last half of the season and after the all-star break, the games are going to get that much more intense. You're going to see closer, lower-scoring games. They're going to be tight games. That's where specialty teams really have an opportunity to have an impact, because everybody's level of play steps up. There was a lot of hitting, pretty aggressive type of hockey game, and that's what you can expect here down the stretch.
Left wing Matt Ellis:
There has definitely been a bit of adversity. But when you take a team tied going into the third period, you want to bear down and make sure we are willing to get the job done. A couple of penalties, a couple in the back of our net. It just wasn't quite enough tonight.
On power play at end of game
It was definitely tight. A bounce here and we could have found the back of the net and it would have been a different game. We battled hard and this is why it is the best league in the world. You have to be ready to compete for 60 minutes and it is usually the team that executes the best that is going to get the two points at the end of the night. We came up short tonight, but learned from it and the beauty of it is that we are right back at it at home after a nice little road trip.
Center Paul Gaustad:
On end of second period
We tried to stick together as a five-man unit after the whistle and they kept on Lalime a little, so it was just guys sticking up for each other. I don't know where the 10 minutes came from. I think they could have handed out a couple before that on a couple of their key guys, but they decided not to. It's kind of frustrating, but we just try to stick together.
On loss
It's tough. We have to find ways to win those third periods. We didn't learn our lesson from
Head coach Lindy Ruff:
On second and third period
They came a little bit harder. They were probably frustrated with their first period. I thought they got a couple calls that helped them out.
On shot disparity
You look at our defense and you might think there is going to be a shot disparity. We played well in the first. We got into a little bit of trouble in the second period. But I didn't mind our third period. I thought our workers did a good job. I didn't like our skill guys tonight, they didn't get enough done for us. Our workers were good tonight. Those guys weren't getting the job done. There wasn't much coming from up top. The guys down below were getting most of the work done.
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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