Tag Archives: Ryan Getzlaf

Game report: Ducks 5, Flames 2

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Key play: Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf scored 16 seconds into the third period to give the Ducks a two-goal lead en route to a 5-2 victory Sunday over the Calgary Flames at the Honda Center. Getzlaf extended his point streak to eight consecutive games (four goals, nine assists).

Pivotal performer: Ryan Kesler scored two goals, including a third-period strike that gave the Ducks a 4-1 lead. Kesler’s 12th and 13th goals of the season propelled the Ducks to their fifth consecutive victory, moving them within two points of the Pacific Division-leading Kings.

Quote, unquote: “He’s been a beast,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said of Kesler. “Just because he doesn’t score, some people don’t think he’s played as good as he has in the past, but I think he been phenomenal. I mean, he’s checking the other team’s top line all the time, whether we’re at home or on the road. He’s done a great job of it.”

Gone streaking: Ducks left wing Andrew Cogliano played in his 680th consecutive game, breaking a tie for sixth place with the Vancouver Canucks’ Henrik Sedin. Cogliano’s streak, which began with his NHL debut Oct. 4, 2007, is the longest active streak in the league.

Between the pipes: John Gibson started in goal for the Ducks for the second consecutive game, after defeating the Canucks in the finale of a seven-game trip Thursday in Vancouver. Gibson made 22 saves. Jonas Hiller, a former Ducks goalie, started for the Flames. Hiller had 28 saves.

Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf playing well at the right time of the season

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Ducks top-line center Ryan Getzlaf couldn’t hit water if he fell from the end of Huntington Beach Pier to start the season. Or so it seemed, anyway. Getzlaf, a former Hart Trophy finalist as the NHL’s MVP, underwent an appendectomy that sidelined him for four games, but declined to use it as an excuse for his poor play. He also owned up to a number of misplays that cost the Ducks games.

All that has changed, however.

Getzlaf’s game has been peerless since the Christmas break.

No surprise, but the Ducks have been sizzling since then, too.

Getzlaf has 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 21 games since the break.

The Ducks are 15-4-2 in the same stretch. They were last in the Pacific Division going into the break, but after a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday over the Chicago Blackhawks, they were third with a 27-19.8 record. They were one point behind the second-place San Jose Sharks and seven behind the division-leading Kings.

The Ducks’ seven-game trip continues Monday with a visit to Calgary.

 

Game report: Ducks 4, Kings 2

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Key play: Team captain Ryan Getzlaf’s first even-strength goal of the season gave the Ducks an early lead and propelled them to a 4-2 victory Thursday over the Kings at Staples Center. Getzlaf scored for only the fourth time in 2015-16 and the Ducks went on to win their fifth in a row.

Pivotal performer: Ducks left wing David Perron scored one goal and assisted on two others, giving him three goals and eight points in six games since they acquired him and defenseman Adam Clendening on Jan. 15 from the Pittsburgh Penguins for left wing Carl Hagelin.

Milestone moment: Getzlaf recorded his 500th career assist when he set up Perron for a first-period goal. Getzlaf reached the mark in his 755th game in the NHL. Teemu Selanne holds the franchise record with 533 assists, set during two stints with the club.

Quote, unquote: “When he scored, everybody was really, really happy for him on the bench,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said of Getzlaf’s first-period goal. “In the history of this team, if he’s playing the way he can, like he was tonight, usually the rest of the team follows suit.”

Welcome back: Kings winger Kyle Clifford returned to the lineup after sitting out 24 games because of a concussion suffered in a Dec. 6 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He spent the All-Star weekend with the AHL’s Ontario Reign and was activated from injured reserve before the game.

Goalie change: Jonathan Quick gave up three goals on nine shots before Kings coach Darryl Sutter replaced him with Jhonas Enroth early in the second period. Ryan Garbutt beat Quick with a laser off the rush 2:41 into the middle period, giving the Ducks a 3-0 lead and prompting the switch.

No fight club: Ducks defenseman Josh Manson and Kings winger Milan Lucic seemed poised for a rematch of their epic fight during an exhibition game in September before the officials kept them apart. Manson was mad that Lucic was mad at Hampus Lindholm after a hard hit on Anze Kopitar.

Faceoff frenzy: The Ducks dominated the Kings in the faceoff circle, winning 31 of 57 (54 percent). Among their biggest winners were Ryan Kesler (10 of 15) and Rickard Rakell (7 of 11). Kopitar was the Kings’ biggest loser through two periods, losing nine of 12. He was credited with 11 of 20 wins by game’s end, however.

Game report: Ducks 3, Sharks 2

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Key play: Ryan Garbutt’s first goal with the Ducks after a trade Jan. 21 from Chicago proved to be the winner in a 3-2 victory Tuesday over the San Jose Sharks at the Honda Center. Garbutt slammed home a rebound of teammate Chris Stewart’s shot at 12:07 of the second period and the Ducks went on to take their fourth consecutive victory and move into third place in the Pacific Division.

Quote, unquote: “It feels good. You always feel like you’re a part of the team after you score a goal like that,” Garbutt said after scoring his third goal of the season. “It turned out to be the game-winner. I couldn’t have asked for a better start.”

Pivotal performer: Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf set up defenseman Hampus Lindholm for a shorthanded goal in the second period with an alert pass from behind the Sharks’ net. Getzlaf won control of the puck and then waited for Lindholm to move into striking position before feeding him.

Welcome back: Defenseman Cam Fowler returned to the Ducks’ lineup after sitting out for 13 games because of a sprained right knee. He began Tuesday’s game paired with Kevin Bieksa rather than Simon Despres, who played alongside Sami Vatanen. Fowler played 20:16 in his first game since Dec. 27.

Between the pipes: Frederik Andersen started in goal for the Ducks and made 30 saves after coach Bruce Boudreau decided to give John Gibson an extra day of rest after returning Monday from the All-Star Game on Sunday. Martin Jones made his 41st appearance of the season for the Sharks. Jones had 22 saves.

Game report: Ducks 3, Wild 1

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Key play: Rickard Rakell scored the tiebreaking goal by completing a tic-tac-toe passing sequence and the Ducks rallied for a 3-1 victory Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild at the Honda Center. Patrick Maroon and Corey Perry assisted on Rakell’s 10th goal of the season, a career high.

Pivotal performer: Rookie defenseman Shea Theodore assisted on Chris Stewart’s game-tying goal in the first period for his fourth point in as many games (one goal, three assists). Theodore scored his first NHL goal and point in the Ducks’ victory Jan. 13 over the Ottawa Senators.

Line shifts: Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau split up “The Twins” in an attempt to wring more offense out of his lines. Center Ryan Getzlaf played between wingers David Perron and Chris Stewart. Right wing Perry skated with left wing Maroon and center Rakell.

Quote, unquote: “It was a really nice goal, there’s no doubt, but it was a pretty sloppy game and ended up with a beautiful, beautiful goal,” Boudreau said of Rakell’s game-winner. “It was such a sloppy game, it was hard to tell (how effective the new line combinations where. But when you look Getzlaf’s line got a goal, (Andrew) Cogliano’s line got a goal and Perry’s got a goal. So, we got three goals from three different lines, which is good.”

Roster move: The Ducks reassigned goaltender Anton Khudobin to the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League. They recalled him Sunday after Frederik Andersen was sidelined by an upper-body injury. Khudobin didn’t play in the Ducks’ 4-3 loss to the Kings that night. Andersen served as John Gibson’s backup Wednesday against the Wild.

Game report: Ducks 4, Senators 1

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Key play: Shea Theodore’s first NHL goal broke a 1-all tie at 15:05 of the third period and the Ducks took a 4-1 victory Wednesday from the Ottawa Senators at the Honda Center. Theodore’s first point came in his eighth game since he was recalled from San Diego of the AHL.

Pivotal performer: Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf’s errant neutral zone pass freed the Senators’ Curtis Lazar for a tying breakaway goal late in the second period and resulted in Getzlaf’s demotion from the top line to the fourth in the third period. Getzlaf then assisted on Theodore’s go-ahead goal.

Quote, unquote: “It took a couple of games to get it and the guys were on me, but it feels good to get the first one out of the way,” Theodore said of his first goal. “I kind of panicked after. It felt good. … Huge. … Pretty special. It’s been a while and I’ve been thinking about it, but it feels good.”

Streak-breakers: Ducks left wing Andrew Cogliano scored his first goal since Nov. 27 against the Chicago Blackhawks, a second-period shot off the rush that beat Senators goalie Craig Anderson for a 1-0 lead. Cogliano snapped a 17-game goal drought. Carl Hagelin ended a nine-game drought with a third-period goal that made it 3-1 and Jakob Silfverberg’s goal that extended the lead to 4-1 was his first in 13 games.

Dropping the gloves: Ducks defenseman Josh Manson earned a decision during a first-period fight with the Senators’ Mark Borowiecki and Patrick Maroon of the Ducks fought to a draw during a second-period scrap with the Senators’ Chris Neil.

Game report: Ducks 4, Blues 3 (shootout)

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Key play: Ryan Getzlaf scored the deciding goal in a shootout and the Ducks rallied for a 4-3 victory Friday over the St. Louis Blues at the Honda Center. The Ducks erased a 3-1 second-period deficit and improved to 2-2 in shootouts this season.

Pivotal performer: Ducks center Ryan Kesler scored in the first and third periods, his seventh and eighth goals of the season. Kesler’s last multi-goal game was Dec. 5, 2014 against the Minnesota Wild. He has four goals in his last five games. Kesler was an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick (see below).

Dropping the gloves: Kesler scored a takedown during a second-period fight with the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko. Tarasenko objected to Kesler’s tough but legal check that leveled St. Louis center Jori Lehtera along the boards.

Quote, unquote: “Big,” Kesler said of rallying to win. “Going into the third we knew we had to buckle down and claw back and I thought we did a good job of that. It would be tough not getting that extra point, even it was going to be a shootout loss. I thought the guys battled hard and we deserved that extra point.”

Injury update: Ducks defenseman Simon Despres is close to returning to the ice, a team spokesman said. Despres has been sidelined since suffering a concussion in the Ducks’ loss Oct. 16 to the Colorado Avalanche. He sat out for the 36th game Friday. The Ducks expect to know more about Despres return to the ice Saturday.

Game report: Ducks 4, Flyers 2

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Key play: Corey Perry avoided a check along the right-wing boards, skated toward the Philadelphia Flyers’ net and then beat Steve Mason with the go-ahead goal 58 seconds into the third period to send the Ducks to a 4-2 victory Sunday at the Honda Center.

Pivotal performer: Perry scored two goals, his team-leading 12th and 13th, and made a pest of himself from the opening minutes. He ignited a fracas 4:29 into the first period after getting tangled up with Mason at the side of the goalie’s net.

Milestone moment: Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf’s assist on Perry’s second-period goal was his 700th point in his 740th game in the NHL. Perry’s goal, off an extended goal-mouth scramble, tied the score at 2-all. Getzlaf also scored a first-period goal, ending a 16-game drought.

Faceoff frenzy: Ryan Kesler won 16 of 19 faceoffs for the Ducks.

Quote, unquote: “When you’re coming out of the break, you want to be emotionally involved,” Getzlaf said. “It was perfect for our group to come out there and play a physical game and get into it right away.”

Injury update: Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler left the game after playing only 3:36 in the first period because of an unspecified lower-body injury. It wasn’t immediately clear how or when he was hurt or how long he might be sidelined. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau didn’t have an update after the game.

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf: ‘We just have to get going’

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Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf has one goal on 62 shots in 29 games this season, one of many reasons the team went into the Christmas break last in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference with a 12-15-6 record. His only goal went into an empty-net. He hadn’t scored yet in a 5-on-5 situation.

“If you told me I was going to have one goal at the break right now and we’d be struggling to score goals, I would have laughed at you at the start of the year,” said Getzlaf , who has a team-leading 19 assists. “We have to be better at all aspects of the game and that starts with us and myself. We just have to get going.”

Getzlaf scored 25 goals and 70 points last season and 31 goals and 87 points in 2013-14. He was sixth in voting for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most-valuable player last season and second in ’13-14. So, it’s not as if he hasn’t been a consistent scorer in the past for the Ducks.

“I had to get back where the game was slowing down for me, where I could get my mind where it needed to be,” he said. “And that’s not easy when you haven’t scored goals and you aren’t doing things and the team is struggling. I had a lot of things I think about. I tried hard in the last week to kind of mentally prepare myself before the game started. So that once the game started I could slow the game down and play at my pace. And I felt better the last week.”

 

Game report: Hurricanes 5, Ducks 1

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Key play: Nate Thompson leveled Justin Falk with a hit to the head in the first period of the Ducks’ 5-1 loss Friday to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Honda Center, drawing an elbowing major and a game misconduct. It set the tone for a less-than-stellar showing from the Ducks.

Pivotal performer: Jeff Skinner scored a hat trick for the Hurricanes, including one in the first period on a counter-attack after a turnover in the Carolina end of the ice. Skinner raced down the right wing and fired a high shot past Ducks goalie John Gibson.

Welcome back: Goaltender Frederik Andersen played for the first time since he was sidelined by the flu Nov. 24, entering the game with the Ducks trailing 3-0 to start the third period. Gibson gave up three goals on 17 shots before he was lifted.

Quote, unquote: “I call it not being a pro,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “We had four days off. We should have expected to come out playing one of our best games of the year. We didn’t. You have to be able to use those breaks and use them the right way and show up to play come game time. I didn’t think we did a very good job of that tonight.”

Dropping the gloves: Getzlaf fought the Hurricanes’ Ron Hainsey late in the second period, trying to send a jolt of energy into his teammates after they fell behind 3-0. Getzlaf is an infrequent fighter and it showed against Hainsey. Call it a draw.