Anaheim Ducks Weekly Roundup: week of 12/1/14-12/7/14

12/1/14: Ducks win over Bruins, 3-2

Brad Marchand picked up the scoring about halfway through the second to make it 1-0 Boston, however between the remainder of the second, and first five minutes of the third, the Ducks built a 3-1 lead off of goals from Sami Vatanen, Devante Smith-Pelly, and the game winner by Matt Beleskey. Simon Gagne scored a goal half way through the third but Anaheim hung on for the victory.  This was a game that pinned two perennial playoff teams with good goaltenders, this rang true tonight as the play was well paced and Tuuka Rask and Freddy Andersen made 25 and 32 saves respectively.  Boston is not the team it was last year, just barely above .500 but will more than likely be a playoff team in the East and has the defensive system to be successful later on in the year.  The Ducks had been shaky lately, a combination of losses on and off the ice with games and players, this is just what Anaheim needed to get back on track.

12/3/14: Ducks victorious in a shootout, 5-4 over Flyers

This victory came against a Philadelphia team that is reeling, sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, which is pretty ungodly seeing how good their top players have been individually, Voracek is off to a career year with 33 points in 25 games and Claude Giroux has 28 in 25.  This game was a seesaw battle, starting with a goal scored by Philly's Mike Raffl, putting them up 1-0 in the second after a scoreless first.  Cam Fowler responded with a nice ripper from between the circles that deflected off a Philly player.  Philadelphia reeled off two strikes from Wayne Simmonds and RJ Umberger, Wayne's goal came just a half a minute after Fowler's tying goal.  This wild second ended at a tie after Anaheim got goals from The Captain and Sami Vatanen.  The unique part of this game is that no one could score in the first! it was a game with a  lot of shots but none converted until the second frame.  By the time the third period rolled around, the fans were wanting more, maybe this one could go 6-6.  Instead The ducks and Flyers score only one each in the third, first was Anaheim's Pat Maroon who scored late in the period off a power play goal, this one looked over until Wayne Simmonds converted an opportunity assisted by young gun Scott Laughton, and D man Andrew MacDonald.  Overtime was good but not good enough to decide this one.  Freddy Andersen again stood tall, making 31 out of 35 possible saves in regulation, and then shutting the door 2 out of 3 times in the shoot out.  Steve Mason also had a solid game, saving 29 out of a possible 33 attempts but he would give up goals in rounds 1 and 2 of the shootout to Jakob Silfverberg and the game winner by Corey Perry.  The Ducks have not won pretty in awhile, but they've won two straight which keeps them at the top of their conference standings and their division, leaving them with 37 overall points.

12/5/14: Anaheim wins a "Wild" one over Minnesota, 5-4

This was another high scoring affair, what is interesting is that neither team put up a crazy amount of shots, The Ducks with 21 and The Wild with 25.  Another note about the tilt is that the Ducks had a 3-0 lead.  Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg put up G's in the first period and Kesler added another to his night in the beginning of the second.  Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise quickly got their team within a goal after scoring 11 seconds apart just minutes after Kesler scored.  Near the end of the middle frame, Jonas Brodin completed the Minnesota comeback with a goal of his own.  At this point in the game the fans have every right to worry, The Ducks have relinquished leads quite often this season and let another one slip away on this night.  These fans were most likely watching on television as the game was in Minnesota, Wild fans were getting their moneys worth at the Xcel Center.  Minnesota fans were not done being excited, just 2 minutes into the third, Justin Fontaine but The Wild ahead 4-3.  This is looking bad, Anaheim has just given up a 3-0 lead and is now trailing a very good Minnesota Wild team.  As a Ducks fan, I can get discouraged when our team gives up a lead like other fans do, but I also know that the team has no quit, I also know that this team plays well from behind in the final frame, being coined the Comeback Kids last year after countless comeback victories in the regular season and postseason.  Well on this night the heroes were Tim Jackman, an unlikely guy who scored just his second of the season 3:37 into the third which was followed 5 minutes later with the game winner scored by Matt Beleskey, who is building onto a career year with his 13th goal in just a third of the season.  This stressful victory came in the midst of a  3 game win streak so Ducks fans can breathe easy, easier than they would if this had come during a slump.  However one thing the team may not breathe well after is leading scorer, all star, and Olympic right winer Corey Perry going down half way through the first period because of a Keith Ballard hit along the wall that the pure goal scorer did not return from.

12/7/14: Anaheim with a win over Winnipeg in OT, 4-3

Another close extra time game was won by The Ducks and it started off with Rene Bourque's first goal in an Anaheim sweater which he scored on the power play 11 minutes into the first frame.  Dustin Byfuglien and Andew Ladd put their team ahead off of 2 power play goals near the end of the first and the beginning of the second period.  Jakob Silfverberg answered for the Ducks a few minutes after Ladd gave his squad the lead.  4 minutes after Jakob's goal, the red hot Ryan Kesler potted a power play goal, giving Anaheim a 3-2 lead off a snap shot that ended the scoring for the second period.  Anaheim's power play which was not very good in November, seemed to give them the win today before Jaob trouba scored a backhander 15:15 into the final frame to tie things up and send the back and forth battle into overtime.  It did not take long for Kyle Palmieri to win this one in the extra frame, Hampus lindholm gave Ryan Getzlaf the puck who turned it into a give and go, quickly passing to Palmieri who urgently put the puck in the net with a  beautifully placed snap shot just 53 seconds to give The Ducks their fourth straight W.  The Ducks had a successful week, winning all 4 games and hit the Ice again on December 10th against Edmonton.

FootNotes

 Corey Perry listed as Day to Day with a knee injury, not further updates yet

Rene Bourque is officially a Duck after scoring his first Anaheim goal, helping his new squad to a victory against Winnipeg

Clayton Stoner rejoined The Ducks against Philadelphia on December 3rd, he hadn't played since November 20th due to injury

Ben Lovejoy and Dany Heatley joined optional skate, both are currently getting over injuries

Colby Robak was acquired from Florida, the 24 yr old defenseman was brought in due to defensive injuries, going the other way was minor leaguer Jesse Blacker and a 3rd round pick.

Eccentric goaltnder Ilya Bryzgalov returns to Anaheim after being accepting a professional tryout contract.