VANCOUVER – It looked like it might be an easy night for the Anaheim Ducks and center Ryan Kesler, who heard more boos than cheers in his first game in Vancouver since a trade to Anaheim in June.
Instead, the Anaheim Ducks rallied in the second period and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in a shootout at Rogers Arena on Thursday.
After Corey Perry opened the shootout with a goal, Jakob Silfverberg scored the decisive goal in the third round.
Frederik Andersen stopped Nick Bonino, and Radim Vrbata lost the puck in the second round of the shootout, giving Silfverberg, who was robbed a couple of times earlier, a chance to win it.
He delivered with a wrist shot over Canucks goalie Eddie Lack's glove.
Andrew Cogliano and Ryan Getzlaf scored in the first period, and Matt Beleskey tied the game on a rebound with 8:08 left in the third period to help the Ducks recover after blowing an early lead to move two points ahead of the Canucks atop the Western Conference.
Andersen finished with 25 saves in his seventh straight start for the Ducks, who won for the second time in eight games (2-1-5).
Rookie Bo Horvat scored his first goal early in the second period, and Jannik Hansen and Radim Vrbata scored 30 seconds apart five minutes later as the Canucks rallied after a rough first period.
Lack, making his first start since a 2-1 shootout win against the Ducks on Nov. 9, finished with 23 saves as the Canucks became the last NHL team to lose a one-goal game, falling to 7-1-0.
Cogliano and Getzlaf staked Anaheim to a 2-0 lead in a first period, which also saw the Canucks lose defenseman Dan Hamhuis.
It was a rough start for the Canucks, who were coming home off a 5-4 road win against the Edmonton Oilers the night before.
Vancouver started without second-line forward Alexandre Burrows, who was a late scratch with an upper-body injury despite finishing the game in Edmonton, fell behind on the first shot 37 seconds in on a goal by Cogliano, and lost Hamhuis to a lower-body injury 50 seconds later.
Hamhuis stayed down after catching his right toe on the back of teammate Daniel Sedin's skate and didn't put weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice and into the locker room.
Lack made a point-blank save off Getzlaf on the next shift, but the Anaheim captain doubled the Ducks lead with 6:50 left in the period after getting behind former Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa off the rush. Getzlaf took a pass from Patrick Maroon off the left boards, held off Sbisa, and lifted a backhand over Lack's glove.
After failing to convert an early power play when Kesler was called for cross-checking after the buzzer to end the first period, Vancouver got back into the game when Horvat scored his first goal after a Kesler turnover 3:08 into the second period.
Kesler lost the puck inside the Vancouver blue line, and the Canucks converted the ensuing rush when Derek Dorsett's backhand pass from the bottom of the left faceoff circle went through two defenders to Horvat alone at the other side of the high slot. The 19-year-old rookie, selected ninth in the 2013 NHL Draft as part of a trade that sent goalie Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils, one-timed it past Andersen for his first point in his seventh game.
Vancouver tied it on a delayed penalty with 8:42 left in the second period. With Lack on the bench for an extra attacker, the Canucks worked it around the zone to Hansen and his one-timer from just inside the top of the left faceoff circle beat Andersen short side.
Vrbata, who scored two power-play goals in Edmonton on Wednesday, put the Canucks ahead after being left all alone atop the Ducks crease on the next shift. Daniel Sedin passed to Vrbata, who had enough time to collect the pass on his forehand, move it to his backhand and beat Andersen across the crease before tucking it past his outstretched pad and inside the post on the far side.
Lack made a backdoor save off Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who returned after missing five games with the mumps, in the final minute of the second period. Lack made another good rebound stop on Silfverberg before the second period expired, and stopped him again on from the slot midway through the third.
The Ducks tied the game after Sami Vatanen's point shot hit Getzlaf who was outside the Canucks crease and Belesky was able to sweep the loose puck past the outstretched left pad of Lack.
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
No comments:
Post a Comment