Sexton, McMillan up; Palmieri down.

Dan Sexton and Brandon McMillan have been recalled from the Syracuse Crunch, and Kyle Palmieri is heading back to the Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate.

Sexton played the first seven games of the season in Anaheim and went scoreless, then missed the next seven games with a broken nose. In four games with the Crunch, the right wing had two goals and five points.

McMillan gets his first NHL call-up after scoring four goals and six points in 16 games at Syracuse. He’s had an eventful year that included signing his entry-level contract in May, and a strong World Junior Championships for silver-medal-winning Team Canada in January.

Palmieri scored a goal in his NHL debut Nov. 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but was held without a point in the next nine games.

The Ducks host the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Honda Center.

Ducks 4, Dallas 2.

After stumbling to one of their worst starts to a season in recent memory, the Ducks have emerged to win six straight.

One reason for the quick turnaround has to be the emergence of secondary scoring.

Second-line center Saku Koivu extended his point streak to a season-high five games with the game’s first goal, on a redirect of a centering feed by Teemu Selanne. Bobby Ryan scored the Ducks’ final two goals to give him seven on the season. Ryan Getzlaf’s second-period goal — off a beautiful no-look pass from Corey Perry — was his seventh this year. All four players — Ryan, Getzlaf, Koivu and Selanne — are all on pace to score more than 30 goals this season.

Continue reading “Ducks 4, Dallas 2.” »

Sbisa up; Syvret, Beleskey, Sexton down.

In a busy day of transactions for the Ducks, defenseman Luca Sbisa is coming back from Syracuse, while defenseman Danny Syvret and forwards Matt Beleskey and Dan Sexton were assigned to the Crunch.

It’s no surprise that the Ducks were looking for reinforcements after a grueling overtime win Tuesday night in San Jose. After starting the season slowly in Anaheim, Sbisa had rediscovered his scoring touch in eight AHL games, posting two goals, nine points and a plus-2 rating for the Crunch. Syvret had a goal and an assist in six games for the Ducks, but had been a healthy scratch the last four games.

Sexton (who missed seven games with a broken nose) and Beleskey (who missed six games with a concussion) have been deemed healthy to play – just not in Anaheim. Neither player had scored a goal this season, and prospects Nick Bonino and Kyle Palmieri were recalled for what has been a mostly successfully NHL audition in the meantime.

Their audition figures to continue tonight at Honda Center against the New York Islanders.

The 23-year-old Sexton hasn’t appeared in an AHL game since last season’s Calder Cup playoffs, when he appeared in six games for the Manitoba Moose. In 41 games with the Ducks last season with the Ducks, the right wing had nine goals and 19 points.

Beleskey appeared in just 15 AHL games at the beginning of last season prior to being recalled to Anaheim, where he had 11 goals and 18 points in 60 games last season. The 22-year-old winger was rewarded with a two-year contract extension in training camp, and with regular playing time alongside Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf in the regular season.

Ducks 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT.

Kyle Palmieri’s first NHL goal, in his first NHL game, came with 4:20 left in the third period of a game the Ducks were trailing 2-1. Ryan Getzlaf showed up on the scoresheet with 2:07 left in overtime.

Clutch scoring and tight defense against the NHL’s highest-scoring team almost seemed to much to ask from the Ducks, but it was exactly what the announced crowd of 13,034 was treated to Wednesday.
Continue reading “Ducks 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT.” »

Dan Sexton injury update.

Ducks right wing Dan Sexton
will have surgery Thursday to repair his broken nose. He is expected to
be out of the lineup for two weeks.

Head coach Randy Carlyle said Tuesday that “His nose is pretty mushed up. It’s not just a simple break. There are multiple fractures of the nose.”

Sexton broke his nose in Saturday’s 5-4
loss to the Detroit Red Wings, when he was struck in the face by a shot off the stick of forrmer Duck Ruslan
Salei in the first period. Sexton didn’t return to the game.

Sexton diagnosed with broken nose.

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.

Detroit 5, Ducks 4.

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.
Continue reading “Detroit 5, Ducks 4.” »

Roundup: Fowler breaks nose; Doan suspended; Getzlaf honored; (update: Mikkelson waived).

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.

Green, Macenauer to AHL; opening-day roster takes shape.

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.

Ducks 5, Sharks 4.

The 15,872 who showed up at HP Pavilion got their money’s worth for a mere exhibition, in which the Ducks and Sharks racked up nine goals and six separate fights.

Both coaches, who figured the game would merely be a good chance to tinker with their personnel in preparation for the regular season, probably got their money’s worth, too.

Playing on a line with Aaron Voros, Corey Perry had three goals and Ryan Getzlaf had four assists. San Jacinto’s Jake Newton scored his first of the preseason and Dan Sexton potted the game-winner with five minutes remaining.

Curtis McElhinney started in goal and stopped 18 of 20 shots in 29:25. Timo Pielmeier came on in relief to stop 22 of 24.

Veteran forwards Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Todd Marchant postponed their preseason debuts another day, likely until tomorrow night in Vancouver. Bobby Ryan also sat the game out. But Getzlaf and Perry more than held their own. Getzlaf had the primary assist on all of Perry’s goals, as well as Newton’s goal – which deflected into the net off San Jose’s Derek Joslin. All four of Getzlaf’s assists came on the power play.

Sexton took a nice pass from Jason Blake to beat Sharks goalie Harri Sateri with the game-winner.

Stephane Veilleux’s second game of the preseason was limited to 2:20. He and Scott Nichol fought at 11:55 of the first period – the fourth fight in less than two minutes – and were promptly ejected.