One second remained on the clock in a 3-2 game, a perfect time for divine intervention.
“All of a sudden the puck came out of nowhere and hit me on the side of the head,” Ducks goalie Dan Ellis said. “I heard it hit a post. I was just praying that it hit the right post. Thank God it stayed out.”
Indeed, in a game the Ducks had to win, Milan Hejduk’s late shot off the post might have been the turning point. Should Anaheim reach the playoffs, it will be a moment to remember. So too will Todd Marchant’s first goal of the season, Brandon McMillan’s game-winner, and Erik Johnson’s bone-headed giveaway that led to Ryan Getzlaf’s goal in the first period.
Often, the rest wasn’t pretty. Ellis finished with 22 saves but he was outplayed by his counterpart for the second time in as many games as a Duck. Peter Budaj made 11 of his 29 saves on the power play and could hardly be blamed for the Avs’ 13th loss in their last 14 games.
The Ducks snapped a five-game losing streak and won for the first time without injured goalie Jonas Hiller since Curtis McElhinney backstopped a 5-4 overtime win in Calgary. They remained one point behind the 72-point cutoff for the eighth and final playoff spot.
With the Ducks on the power play at 11:23 of the third period, McMillan broke a 2-2 tie, scoring on a putback after Budaj came out aggressively after allowing a rebound to the right of the net.
The rookie center was only out on the power play because Saku Koivu missed his third straight game with a groin injury. Yet he, Bobby Ryan and Jason Blake (and defensemen Luca Sbisa and Francois Beauchemin) turned it into a minute-long cycle play that wore down the Colorado PK with Brandon Yip serving a double-minor for high-sticking Beauchemin.
Considering the Ducks were outshot 23-19 at even strength –and only had one power-play goal to show for their previous six games –it was a badly needed goal.
“We found a way to score a big power play goal to win us the hockey game,” head coach Randy Carlyle said. “That is what you have to do. You have to find ways to get points at this time of the year. Hopefully this is a springboard for our hockey club to get back to playing the way we are quite capable of playing.”
Marchant’s goal ended a streak of 70 games without a goal. The goal, the 186th of his career, came at the end of a give-and-go with Sbisa. The defenseman jumped up in the rush and backhanded the puck to Marchant, streaking down the slot; Marchant needed only get a sliver of stick on the puck to re-direct it past Budaj.
“It’s certainly the longest drought of my career,” Marchant said. “I’m not sure what it was prior to this, but it wasn’t anywhere near this. I didn’t let it get me down mentally. I know I’ve got many other roles on this team besides scoring goals. The bottom line is it’s about wins this time of the year. It’s not about how many goals or assists I get. It’s about winning hockey games, getting into the playoffs and see how far it takes you.”
A few more notes:
Perhaps perturbed by his team’s two goals per game average over the past four games, Carlyle did quite a bit of line juggling. Only the fourth line of Sheldon Brookbank, Maxim Lapierre and George Parros didn’t change. In the first period, he started with Perry-Getzlaf-Selanne; Ryan-McMillan-Sexton; Ruutu-Marchant-Blake. In the second, it was back to Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry; and Sexton-McMillan-Selanne. Finally, for the third, Blake was back with McMillan and Selanne.
Getzlaf has points in all eight games since he returned from his nasal sinus fractures. It’s probably not his fault, but still worth noting that the Ducks are only 3-4-1 in those games.
Corey Perry has scored 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in his last 11 games, including an assist in tonight’s contest. His 31-37=68 points this season currently rank fifth in the NHL. Perry is just one goal shy of matching his career high set in 2008-09 (32).
Cam Fowler’s workload isn’t getting any lighter. He led the Ducks’ blueliners in ice time (25:18) and also led the team in blocked shots. However – like everyone else in a Ducks uniform – he was late to react on the play that led to the Avalanche’s first goal on a puck shot in off the end boards that wound up on the stick of Kevin Porter.
The game featured three fights, all in the first 9 minutes. George Parros fought David Koci, Sheldon Brookbank fought Cody McLeod 17 seconds later, and Sbisa tangled with Cameron Gaunce.
Thanks to Marchant’s goal, only Kyle Chipchura and Brookbank haven’t scored a goal among players on the active roster.
