Advertisement

Ducks pick up where they left off in 3-1 win

Share via
Times Staff Writer

No champagne bottles were uncorked, and no streamers fell from the rafters at the Honda Center. And there certainly was no silver chalice in the building Monday night.

But that didn’t mean the Ducks weren’t in the mood to celebrate another win over the Ottawa Senators.

The Ducks ended their longest homestand of the season with their sixth consecutive victory, taking an impressive 3-1 decision in the first meeting against the team they won the Stanley Cup against nearly nine months ago.

Advertisement

Todd Bertuzzi and Corey Perry ended long scoring droughts in the first period to get the Ducks started, and Scott Niedermayer added a key insurance goal in the third to back Jean-Sebsatien Giguere’s 24-save effort as they stayed one point ahead of third-place San Jose while picking up two points on first-place Dallas in the Pacific Division.

The Ducks also won six in a row back in January. They have now won 11 of 12, with the only loss coming to Dallas at the start this seven-game home stretch.

“I guess you’d have to be somewhat satisfied with the record during this homestand,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “It’s not often you get to run the table.

Advertisement

“There’s no easy game in the NHL. By no means was this easy. I think it’s a credit to the work ethic and commitment our players have put in.”

It seemed as if the Ducks picked up right where they left off against the Senators in June as their hard-hitting style on the forecheck forced a shaky Ottawa defense into committing several bad giveaways in the first period.

Ultimately, they managed a 2-0 lead with goals against former Ducks backup Martin Gerber in their first six shots.

Advertisement

Perry chipped the puck past Ottawa defenseman Luke Richardson to Ryan Getzlaf. Getzlaf threaded a clean pass to a waiting Bertuzzi, who zipped a one-timer past Gerber.

The goal broke a long drought for Bertuzzi, who went nine games without finding the net and had just one in his last 17 games.

“It was basically set up by Getz,” Bertuzzi said. “Getz came down the wing and I think he froze Gerber pretty good. He threw it over and it was just a matter of getting it on the net as hard as I could.”

Perry added to the lead with the first of their two power-play goals at the 15-minute mark of the first when he got his stick on a point shot by Niedermayer.

The 22-year-old winger had come up dry of late as well. Since taking 26 goals into his first appearance in the NHL All-Star game at the end of January, Perry had two goals in 14 games.

From that point, the Ducks mostly rode some more strong goaltending by Giguere.

Giguere only allowed Christoph Schubert’s wrist shot from inside the blue as the puck found its way through a screen in front by the Senators’ Jason Spezza.

Advertisement

But the veteran played big when he needed to in the third period as Ottawa began to turn up the pressure. Two of Giguere’s biggest saves came against Spezza early in the third period as the Ducks nursed their 2-1 lead.

“I just wanted to be really patient with him,” said Giguere, who reached the 30-win total for the third consecutive season. “He’s the type of guy that can fake the shot and then make a sick pass. You’ve got to be patient. When I saw that he shot, I was able to put a glove on it.”

Niedermayer made it 3-1 on a two-man advantage created when the Senators, following the lead of Coach Bryan Murray, lost their cool. Murray was eventually given a game misconduct after he voiced his displeasure with several calls by referees Wes McCauley and Kelly Sutherland.

“I talked to the referees during the game and I took a bad penalty,” Murray said. “I apologized to [the players]. I put them in a bad spot.”

Ducks center Doug Weight played in his first game since Feb. 8 after missing the last eight because of a strained left shoulder. Weight got an assist on Perry’s goal and set up a few other opportunities.

--

eric.stephens@latimes.com

Advertisement
Advertisement