October 2010 Archives

Nick Bonino, who scored his first two goals of the AHL season last night for the Syracuse Crunch, is reportedly being summoned to the NHL.

The 22-year-old center has seven assists and nine points in eight games this season for the Ducks' top affiliate, including at least one point in the last six games.

Bonino had a goal and an assist in nine games last season for the Ducks after making the leap from Boston University. This season he was cut one week into training camp after appearing in one preseason game, a 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks in which Bonino didn't score.

The Ducks could use some offense after scoring three goals in the last two games against New Jersey and San Jose.

It was a recipe for disaster. Their second game in as many nights, facing a much better opponent than the first - on the road, no less - and the Ducks the followed the recipe.

The Sharks broke out to a 5-0 lead that no amount of fights could curtail (there were six, for the record) and no third-period bounce-back could overcome. The shots on goal count was just as lopsided - 38-11 through two periods, and 41-24 the game.

All of which led Randy Carlyle to say, "we didn't really seem to get involved in the game.

"From our standpoint, you can't come into this building and expect them not to be coming out and jumping at you," the coach continued. "I mean we did play last night. This is the second half of a back-to-back. But we got ourselves out of position and got into lots of trouble."

Based on the Ducks' last nine games, the smart bet is an Anaheim win tomorrow in San Jose.

The Ducks failed to win back-to-back games again Friday, this time at the hands of the current cellar-dwellers of the NHL standings. An inspired effort by Jason Blake resulted in the game's first goal, a second-chance power-play tally at 8:07 of the second period.

That was the first, last and only time the horn wound sound inside Honda Center. Jamie Langenbrunner answered at 10:39 by sneaking a short-side shot between Jonas Hiller and the goal post to even the game at 1.

The game-winner proved to be Patrik Elias' one-timer at 1:54 of the third period. Alexander Vasyunov created the scoring chance by intercepting a long Danny Syvret pass in the neutral zone and teeing the puck up for Elias in the high slot.

Hiller finished with 25 saves, but Martin Brodeur turned in a vintage 27-save perforamance. The Ducks held the offensively inept Devils to 27 shots, the second-fewest by a Ducks opponent this season.

"We turned the puck over, especially in the first half of the game, far too many times," head coach Randy Carlyle said. "We knew the New Jersey Devils were going to play that typical trapping style in the neutral ice. We forced pucks into that area too many times. Consequently, they had a good margin of play in our zone for about half of the game.

"We started to get away from it, were putting pucks in and got our forechecking game going. We seemed to play better, then we made a costly turnover early in the third period and they scored a goal."

 

Defenseman Cam Fowler "has made huge strides the last couple days, and hopefully he's an option for us in the short term here. We'll make a decision based upon how he tells us he feels," head coach Randy Carlyle said Friday.

The 18-year-old has missed four games since breaking his nose against the Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 17, a longer absence than was initially expected. Fowler skated on his own after the morning skate, and Carlyle said "he is a quite possible option for tonight."

One player the coach ruled out for tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils is Josh Green. The veteran left wing was recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League, where he had one goal, three points and six penalty minutes through seven games.

"Josh Green was based upon (the fact) that we have back to back games," Carlyle said. "I don't think it's fair to our players to expect them to come out of the lineup when they've been here and we've recalled a player from the American Hockey League. He's here as a safety net. As far as using him, it will basically depend on the performance and health of our team."

That means Jason Blake will re-enter the lineup after becoming a healthy scratch Wednesday in Dallas.

"What we've asked (Blake) to do is be quick and be first on the forecheck," Carlyle said. "He's got to be, as I call it, somewhat of a more tenacious player with the puck down below the goal line. Finishing the body checks, stopping progression -- we ask every member of our hockey club to do that and to basically out-work the people he's up against. Be a safe, responsible hockey player. That's what we're asking of him and of everybody."

Matt Beleskey has been diagnosed with a concussion and didn't take part in practice today at Honda Center. He'll be placed on injured reserve later today, a team spokesperson said, meaning he will miss Friday's game against New Jersey and Saturday's game against San Jose.

That's the bad news. The good news is that Beleskey isn't experiencing the worst of the typical post-concussion symptoms - dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, sensitivity to light - and there's good reason to believe he will miss only the minimum seven days from the time of the injury, which projects to Tuesday.

"I'm feeling all right today," Beleskey said. "I'm pretty sore in my neck and back, other than that I'm OK."

The Ducks are far from the best team in the NHL but, when they get rolling, might just be the most frustrating -- certainly on a good night, like Tuesday.

They take a lot of penalties and on a good night (like Tuesday) will survive; they give up a lot of shots and on a good night (like Tuesday) will survive; they have some forwards with extraordinarily gifted hands and on a good night they'll all find the scoresheet. On Tuesday, George Parros did too, which tells you what kind of a night it was for Dallas.

Anaheim survived another game-ending injury -- this one to Matt Beleskey -- plus five minor penalties and 37 shots against to beat the Stars. Jonas Hiller (35 saves) outplayed counterpart Kari Lehtonen (21 saves), who allowed a pair of goals to Bobby Ryan, and one each to Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry and Parros.

Ducks right wing Dan Sexton sustained a broken nose in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Sexton was struck in the face by a shot off the stick of forrmer Duck Ruslan Salei in the first period and didn't return to the game. He was set to home Sunday for more tests on his facial area.

Six days earlier, the Ducks lost rookie defenseman Cam Fowler to a broken nose in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Try as they might - and they tried mightily on Saturday - the Ducks simply can't win a game at Joe Louis Arena.

Leading 4-3 after two periods, Anaheim let one get away when Pavel Datsyuk scored the game-winning goal with 11.4 seconds left in the game. Bobby Ryan, Ryan Carter, Danny Syvret, Teemu Selanne scored goals and Curtis McElhinney made 36 saves in a losing effort.

On their fifth try, the Ducks won their first road game of the season - against the defending Stanley Cup runner-up, no less.

Ryan Getzlaf's second-effort goal with 1:53 remaining, jamming the puck out from between the pads of Philadelphia goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, broke the 2-2 tie and served as the game-winner. There was some suspense to the goal, as the officials consulted with NHL's "war room" in Toronto for the second time in the game before deciding the goal should stand.

"(The referee) didn't make the call right away because he didn't know where it was," Getzlaf told Prime Ticket after the game. He talked to his other referee ... and they said it was in the back of the net before he blew the whistle."

Philadelphia outshot Anaheim 42-22, but also had 28 shots blocked -- six by Lubomir Visnovsky, five by Toni Lydman and four by Jason Blake and Paul Mara. Curis McElhinney had his share of gems in his first start of the season and finished with 40 saves.

The Ducks made their shots count against Bobrovksy, including a Visnovsky slap shot 35 seconds into the game that drew first blood. Jason Blake gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead off a feed from behind the goal line by Teemu Selanne at 10:52 of the opening period.

Special teams weren't a factor. The Ducks went 0-for-4 with the man advantage and also killed all five penalties they faced.

The Ducks announced 11 road-game watch parties at various Oggi's pizza locations in Southern California this season, beginning tomorrow night in Tustin. Here's the full list:

DATE                        OPPONENT           LOCATION                                    TIME

Thursday, Oct. 21        @ Philadelphia    13612 Newport Ave., Tustin          4 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 26         @ Dallas              12362 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove    6 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 16        @ Dallas               23641 Via Linda, Mission Viejo     6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 7          @ Edmonton        19461 Main St., Huntington Beach  6:30 p.m.

                                                                 18810 Soledad Canyon Rd., Santa Clarita*

Wednesday, Dec. 8      @ Vancouver       1500 E. Village Way, Ste. 2295, Orange          7 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 15    @ Washington     2363 California Ave., Ste. 105, Corona*          4 p.m.

                                                                  41301 Margarita Rd., #101, Temecula*

Monday, Dec. 20         @ Boston              13612 Newport Ave., Tustin                           4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 28         @ Phoenix           12362 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove               6 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 18         @ Ottawa             23641 Via Linda, Mission Viejo                      4:30 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 20        @ Toronto            19461 Main St., Huntington Beach                  4 p.m.

                                                                  18810 Soledad Canyon Rd., Santa Clarita*

Wednesday, Feb. 9      @ Vancouver           Oggi's - 1500 E. Village Way, Ste. 2295, Orange          7 p.m.

Here's the rest of the press release:

Teemu Selanne's 609th career goal wasn't enough for the Ducks, who gave up two quick goals in the second period, and an empty-netter late, in the opening game of their four-game road trip.

With Columbus leading 2-0, Lubomir Visnovsky hit Jason Blake with a long pass, then Blake dropped the puck for Selanne skating up the left wing. His 12-foot shot was the only puck that got past Steve Mason (31 saves).

Jonas Hiller stopped 19 of 21 shots, allowing goals to Derek Mackenzie and Rick Nash. Nash's empty netter with Hiller on the bench at 19:32 of the final period provided the final score.

Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler missed the game with a broken nose and Danny Syvret made his Ducks debut, playing 15:27 alongside partner Sheldon Brookbank.

More to come.

Thanks to Greg Wyshynski over at Yahoo! for directing our attention toward this "Anaheim Ducks Premier Alternate NHL Jersey" currently retailing for $118.99 at www.fansedge.com:

The expected due date on the third jersey was Nov. 26 in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. While I know nothing about fansedge.com, I find it hard to believe that Reebok would stitch its logo onto something unofficial and sell it for $118.99.

Update: As of right now (3:30 p.m. Pacific), fansedge.com has pulled the jersey from its site, which only makes me think we'll be seeing it again. If anyone was able to purchase the jersey, I would love to know if you receive it.

Defenseman Brendan Mikkelson has been claimed off waivers by the Calgary Flames, and defenseman Danny Syvret has been recalled from AHL affiliate Syracuse to take his place on the Ducks roster.

Mikkelson appeared in five games this season, posting one assist and seven penalty minutes after winning one of the final defenseman spots in training camp. A second-round draft pick by the Ducks in 2005, the 23-year-old Mikkelson was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Phoenix Coyotes. He had been averaging 19:24 time on ice -- fourth among Anaheim defensemen and sixth on the team overall.

In 67 NHL games, all with the Ducks, Mikkelson had no goals, five assists and 38 penalty minutes. Only two members of the Ducks' six-man 2005 draft class remain with the team: Bobby Ryan and Syracuse goalie Jean-Phillippe Levasseur.

Mikkelson lasted longer in training camp than Syvret, who was himself placed on waivers Sept. 30 before being assigned to Syracuse. Syvret appeared in three preseason games with the Ducks, recording a goal, an assist and a minus-1 rating. The 25-year-old had two assists in four games with the Crunch, and has 49 games, two goals and three assists to his credit in the NHL.

By noon Monday, there was enough Ducks-related weekend fallout - some good, some bad - to fill one page of an afternoon sports section. If those existed anymore.

1. Defenseman Cam Fowler was diagnosed with a broken nose as a result of this play in the second period of Sunday's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. He is listed as "probable" for Wednesday's game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

2. Shane Doan - who also steered Fowler toward the end boards - has been suspended three games for his third-period hit on Dan Sexton. No penalty was called on the play at the time.

3. Update: Brendan Mikkelson has been placed on waivers. The 23-year-old appeared in five games this season, posting one assist and seven penalty minutes, after winning one of the final defenseman spots in training camp. A second-round draft pick by the Ducks in 2005, Mikkelson was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Phoenix Coyotes. He had been averaging 19:24 - fourth among Anaheim defensemen and sixth overall.

4. Ryan Getzlaf was named the NHL's third star of the week, behind only Florida Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun and Chicago Blackhawks right wing Marian Hossa. Getzlaf led all scorers last week with eight points (two goals, six assists) in four games as the Ducks posted a 2-1-1 record. Here's how Getzlaf's four games break down:

1. 0-0-0 in St. Louis on Monday

2. A goal, three assists and a +2 rating in a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the home opener at Honda Center on Wednesday.

3. One goal and one assist in a 5-4 shootout loss to Atlanta Thrashers on Friday.

4. Two assists and a +3 rating in a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday.

Corey Perry's breakaway goal with 5:37 left in the game lifted the Ducks to their second win in three games to finish their season-opening homestand.

Cam Fowler scored his first NHL goal but left the game minutes later with a bloodied nose and did not return. Toni Lydman also scored for the Ducks, who got 36 saves from Jonas Hiller.

Scottie Upshall and Eric Belanger brought Phoenix back from down 2-0 with their goals in the third period.

8:56 p.m. update: Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said that keeping Fowler out of the game was "more precautionary than anything at this point." He did not know whether or not Fowler had broken his nose.

Carlyle (just like anyone who hadn't seen a video replay of Doan's hit on Fowler) didn't offer an opinion on the hit. Fowler was not available after the game.

Here was Doan's take: "I hit (Fowler) and he fell," Doan said. "Then he was so low, he hit my hip I think. I'm not sure. Something like that. I knew he went into the boards awkward because he'd hit my hip low. He was kind of going down, trying to drive around, I think. ... You never want to see anyone get hurt."

A few more notes from the game:

The second period of Sunday's game between the Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes was an eventful one for rookie defenseman Cam Fowler.

At 3:41, he wound up from the left point and buried his first NHL goal past Jason LaBarbera, who was screened in front by Ducks forward Corey Perry and teammate Sami Lepisto. Fowler, playing his sixth NHL game, had a predictably huge smile on his face as he was congratulated by teammates.

The smile didn't last long. At 8:45 he burned through the Phoenix defense for a shot on goal and was going to have trouble holding up before crashing into the end boards anyway. However, Coyotes captain Shane Doan intercepted Fowler at the end of the rush to steer him away from the net, then steered Fowler into the end boards.

Fowler collapsed in a heap, blood dripping from his nose. He was slow to get up and received help from a trainer before leaving down the tunnel. Later in the period, the team announced that Fowler was still being evaluated in the locker room and would not return to the game.

More to come.

Defenseman Andreas Lilja has received his visa and was added to the Ducks' active roster Saturday. To make room for the 35-year-old veteran, who signed last weekend but had his visa renewal delayed, the Ducks assigned defenseman Luca Sbisa to AHL affiliate Syracuse.

The 20-year-old Sbisa was a healthy scratch in three of the Ducks' five games this season and averaged only 12:22 in the two games he played. After spending all but the first eight games of last season in the Western Hockey League, a well-built Sbisa arrived at training camp hoping to play an entire season in Anaheim. That dream will have to wait another season.

The Ducks can take solace in the fact that, for the second straight game, it was easier to pare down their problems to a mere handful.

Problem number one Friday was a forward for the Atlanta Thrashers named Anthony Stewart, who nearly doubled his career goal total with a hat trick in the Thrashers' shootout win. Stewart, who entered the game with four goals in his first 108 NHL games, scored on a breakaway 17 seconds into the opening period, then added two power-play goals in the third period to bring Atlanta back from a 4-2 deficit.

In the shootout, Nigel Dawes scored on Jonas Hiller in the fourth round, the only shootout goal for either team.

"We're upset with losing the point tonight," head coach Randy Carlyle said. "That is probably as emotional as I have been in losing a shootout because there were mental mistakes that we made that cost us the point, not their effort. They worked and tried. Some nights shootouts go for you, some nights they don't."

Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf and Toni Lydman - playing his first game of the season - scored for the Ducks. Hiller had 29 saves, and Selanne and Perry each had a pair of assists.

The Ducks got more good news one day after their first win of the season when defenseman Toni Lydman was cleared to play.

The 33-year-old has been sidelined by double vision since training camp began. He had been practicing with the team daily, but has not appeared in a regular or pre-season game.

The Ducks figure to get another veteran defenseman back when Andreas Lilja's work visa is finalized.

To make room for Lydman on the active roster, defenseman Brett Festerling was assigned to AHL affiliate Syracuse Thursday.

The play of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan wasn't the only reason the Ducks limped into their home opener Wednesday without a win to show for their first three games of the season.

Still, the trio's combined totals of zero goals and zero assists had to change in a hurry.
The top line clicked, and the rest of the Ducks followed, surviving an ugly start to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in their home opener before an announced crowd of 17,174.

Ryan pickpocketed reigning league MVP Henrik Sedin in the neutral zone, then completed a give-and-go play with Getzlaf for the game-winner with 9:48 left in the third period. Getzlaf had a goal and three assists, and Perry and Teemu Selanne also scored for the Ducks (1-3-0).

More in tomorrow's editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin. Here are a few notes that didn't make the paper:

Ducks defenseman Andy Sutton had surgery to repair a fractured right thumb this morning. The surgery was performed at the Kerlan-Jobe Surgery Center in Los Angeles by hand specialist Dr. Steve Shin. Sutton is expected to return to action in approximately 6-8 weeks, which projects to the last week of November or the first week of December.

The 6-foot-6 veteran was slotted as a shutdown defenseman before he broke the thumb in a fight [video below] with former Duck Ruslan Salei on opening night in Detroit. Another 35-year-old defenseman, Andreas Lilja, signed with the Ducks this weekend and is the logical choice to eat Sutton's minutes.

There's an almost endless repository of statistics that illustrate how bad the Ducks have played in their first three regular-season games. They have been outscored 13-2 and outshot 145-72. Their 43.0 faceoff percentage ranks 29th in the NHL, their 48.3 penalty minutes per game 30th.

Most importantly, a team that pledged to avoid another typical early-season swoon is off to an 0-3 start. If there is a hockey-statistical equivalent of the word acrid, just take your pick.

The good news - and there was some good news after Monday's 5-1 loss in St. Louis - is that the Ducks got to come home in advance of Wednesday's home opener against the Vancouver Canucks. By then they will probably have added a veteran to help on defense, Andreas Lilja, and have the potential for an opening-night atmosphere that tends to make visiting teams uncomfortable - the same atmosphere the Ducks faced Friday and Saturday in Detroit and Nashville, respectively.

During his time in Anaheim, former Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski was certainly among the better personalities on the team - good sense of humor, quotable, sociable, etc. That he decided to have a laugh on the ice at the expense of a notoriously strong personality in Sean Avery is really no surprise.

That he would choose the PG-13 gesture you're about to see (after the jump), with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance, was in questionable taste. Mildly amusing, harmless, yet still punishable. Some form of supplemental discipline wouldn't be a surprise considering Wisniewski has been on a conference call with NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell before, and considering that sexual puns have drawn discipline before.

That's your setup for this video of this morning's all-New York matchup between Avery's Rangers and the Islanders, Wisniewski's current employer:

A tough week for the Ducks and Andreas Lilja could be ending with a contract that brings the veteran defenseman to Anaheim.

A report on the Swedish website HockeyExpressen.se indicates that the 35-year-old Lilja will sign with the Ducks. Anaheim lost veteran defenseman Andy Sutton to injury in Friday's regular-season opener in Detroit, a 4-0 loss. Brett Festerling was summoned from the AHL prior to Saturday's game in Nashville, a 4-1 loss.

Sutton's thumb fracture left the Ducks without two of their key blue line additions; Toni Lydman is still out following an acute episode double vision. Lilja, meanwhile, has been looking for a contract since he was cut in training camp by the San Jose Sharks - after he flew with the team to Europe.

Lilja is a defensive-minded defenseman who has played the last five seasons with the Red Wings. In 478 career games, he has 15 goals, 74 points and 501 penalty minutes.

The website mlive.com reported that Lilja's visa was set to expire today.

3:20 p.m. update: Lilja will sign a one-year contract with the Ducks, but agent Todd Diamond relays that the defenseman might not be able to suit up tomorrow in St. Louis. Monday is Columbus Day, a federal holiday, which will delay Lilja's ability to renew the P-1 (work) visa.

As a side note, Diamond said that Lilja was never offered - nor did he reject - a contract from the Red Wings, contrary to the mlive.com report.

So much for avoiding those slow starts.

Two days into the regular season, the Ducks are 0-2 and have been outscored 8-1. It may be time for a day off already, and the Ducks will get one before playing the Blues on Monday in St. Louis.

Saku Koivu's 34-foot wrist shot at 5:25 of the second period was the only goal for the Ducks. Teemu Selanne and rookie defenseman Cam Fowler picked up the assists, and the line of Koivu, Selanne and Jason Blake combined to put 13 shots on goal.

The Ducks took 37 shots as a team, usually enough to outshoot -- and often outscore -- an opponent. But they allowed 49 while giving the Preds seven power-play chances. Nashville converted just one, by Sean Sullivan at 8:33 of the second period, but got even-strength tallies from Marcel Goc, Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand.

Jonas Hiller, making his second start in as many nights, stopped 45 shots. Counterpart Pekka Rinne was replaced with rookie Anders Lindback after sustaining a third-period collision with Troy Bodie, and did not return to the game.

Andy Sutton broke his thumb in a second-period fight Friday against the Detroit Red Wings' Ruslan Salei. Sutton did not return for the third period. No timetable for his return was immediately available, pending further evaluation.

Reduced to six healthy defensemen for tonight's game against Nashville, the Ducks recalled Brett Festerling from American Hockey League affiliate Syracuse. Festerling, who played 42 games for the Ducks last season, was among the second-to-last round of training camp cuts.

Luca Sbisa, a healthy scratch last night, also figures to have a crack at the lineup.

The Ducks went to Detroit and lost. Nothing new under the sun on opening night of a new season; the Wings are now 27-3-3-0 all-time at home against the Ducks.

Second-year goalie Jimmy Howard continued the tradition with a 21-save shutout, helped immensely by his team's six power-play opportunities to the Ducks' one. The disparity in penalties (the Ducks took 12 to the Wings' 6) was a big factor in Detroit's 43-21 lead in shots on goal.

Yet neither Johan Franzen, Mike Modano, Pavel Datsyuk or Dan Cleary scored on the power play against Jonas Hiller (39 saves). Detroit did all its damage at even strength, and all within the game's first 37 minutes.

In an otherwise forgettable debut, the Ducks can take pride in their perfect penalty kill as well as a solid regular-season debut by Cam Fowler, who blocked five shots in 20:48 and looked poised with the puck.

Luca Sbisa was a healthy scratch, but he might be needed tomorrow in Nashville; defenseman Andy Sutton did not play in the third period.

The NHL deadline for submitting opening-day rosters has come and gone, and the Ducks' roster looks just as it was expected to once Josh Green and Maxime Macenauer became the final cuts of training camp. The team placed Joffrey Lupul and Jason Jaffray on the injured-reserve list today and have designated Toni Lydman as an injured non-roster player.

Lydman traveled with the team to Detroit -- which came as welcome news following Tuesday's checkup for the defenseman who has been sidelined with double vision since the start of training camp. No word yet if Lydman could be cleared to play at some point during the season-opening trip to Detroit, Nashville and St. Louis -- or if he'll merely be skating and (hopefully) bonding with his teammates on the road.

Without further ado, then, the roster:

Forwards (16): Beleskey, Blake, Bodie, Carter, Chipchura, Getzlaf, Jaffray (IR), Koivu, Lupul (IR), Marchant, Parros, Perry, Ryan, Selanne, Sexton, Voros.

Defensemen (8): Brookbank, Fowler, Lydman, Mara, Mikkelson, Sbisa, Sutton, Visnovsky.

Goalies (2): Hiller, McElhinney.

Josh Green and Maxime Macenauer were assigned to AHL affiliate Syracuse on Monday, making them the final cuts of training camp. The Ducks have 26 players on their roster, but three (Toni Lydman, Joffrey Lupul, Jason Jaffray) are expected to start the season on injured reserve. That ought to bring Anaheim down to the league-maximum 23 active players two days ahead of the deadline.

It also clinches the team's final forward positions for Dan Sexton and Troy Bodie, and eliminates the possibility of a third line centered by the 21-year-old Macenauer. Barring any moves between now and Friday's season opener against Detroit, this is the team Randy Carlyle will ice against the Red Wings.

Going down the list of pre-camp questions, then:

Final roster cuts? Check.
Team captain? Ryan Getzlaf.
Team identity? Not yet.
Cam Fowler? In the NHL.
Bobby Ryan? Probably a left wing again.

There are still plenty of challenges in store - namely solidifying the defense pairings and finding three scoring lines - that Carlyle probably would like to have nailed down by now.

The Ducks' final practice in Anaheim is tomorrow, and the team leaves Wednesday for Detroit.

That 25-year-old center Ryan Getzlaf officially became the eighth captain in Ducks history Sunday wasn't out of the blue. He was one of two alternate captains last season, along with Saku Koivu, and both were seen as logical successors when captain Scott Niedermayer retired in June.

The more interesting wrinkle was how Getzlaf earned the "C" that was stitched onto his jersey prior to Sunday's preseason tilt with the Los Angeles Kings.

"The players made that decision," head coach Randy Carlyle said.

Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf scored goals in regulation, and Teemu Selanne's 4-on-3 overtime goal lifted the Ducks to a 3-2 win in their preseason finale.

Perry scored a 5-on-3 goal in the first period, and Getzlaf finished a breakaway of his own creation to put the Ducks up 2-0 early in the third period.

Jonas Hiller single-handedly lost the shutout with 4:10 left in the third period. With the Ducks skating 5-on-4, he left the crease to play a puck headed behind his net. Justin Williams followed the puck down the ice, stole it off Hiller's stick, and tucked it inside the goal post before Hiller could cover it up.

Jack Johnson sent the game into overtime, sending a wrist shot into the back of the net from 55 feet out with 2:43 left.

The webcast of tonight's Kings-Ducks game has been cancelled by Prime Ticket, which was scheduled to stream the game on foxsportswest.com. The game can still be heard on the Ducks (830-AM) and Kings (1150-AM in most areas) radio affiliates.

The explanation from Prime Ticket, as relayed by a Ducks spokesperson: "We've decided to hold off and re-evaluate the process. We want to make sure we're providing the best experience for the fans."

We're all in preseason form. ...

 

Henrik Sedin scored late in the third period to break a 2-2 tie at Honda Center, and Ryan Kesler fired in an empty-net goal to provide the final score.

Saku Koivu and Matt Beleskey scored for the Ducks, who got 27 saves from Jonas Hiller.

More to follow.

Defenseman Toni Lydman got back on the ice for the first time since suffering an acute episode of double vision 16 days ago.

While that's huge news for the Ducks -- whose eight goals allowed Tuesday in Los Angeles intensified the team's urgent need for defense -- it's just one small step for Lydman.

"It's the first step to the process of him getting back on the ice to join our group," head coach Randy Carlyle said, "but it's still a long ways away. I don't think there's a lot of things we can take out of one skate, but it goes by on a day to day basis with him. If he has no problems, ro recurring headaches, or whatever you want to describe what he's had, then it would be a positive step, but today's just the first one on a long road back.

"We all want him to get back as quickly as possible but he has to be the indicator," Carlyle continued. "When he tells us he feeels back to normal and he's had an extended period of practicing with us, thoese are all the factors that have to go back into place before we put a player in a position where we can provide him with the work, the space, the environment, the medical coverage, the help -- but when he tells us he's ready to play, he'll play."

"From a hockey standpoint, it's tough to sign with a new team, then this thing happens and you can't get to know the guys," said Saku Koivu, a fellow Finn. "He was really happy about it. He felt great, looked good, and hopefully from here on it's all positive."