Anaheim Ducks Weekly Roundup 

Week of January 5th-January 11th

Bryzgalov proves again he's more interesting off ice in this 4-1 loss to red hot New York Rangers

Andersen still starts mostly every game so any time Ilya Bryzgalov gets the go ahead, it's because Freddy desperately needs a day off to rest.  Bryz was not awful, he made 26 saves on 29 shots but it was not enough to steal a win for the Ducks as they only scored once on 25 shots of their own.  The first period showed why These two teams are two of the best in the game right now, The Rangers were especially hot, going for their 7th straight win, these guys are fast but so are the Ducks so the opening frame was quick paced.  Derick Brassard opened the scoring in the second after a scoreless first just passed the midway point of the period.  The second frame only contained that Brassard tally but the Third saw New York pull away, first off a goal 2 and a half minutes into the period by Rick Nash who scored his 25th of the season, only trailing Tyler Seguin in the league lead for that category.  The Ducks looked like they were back in this one when Beauchemin scored 8 minutes after Nash off a power play opportunity, however Beauchemin gave up a turnover to Zuccarello who promptly converted the 3rd New York goal of the night which was followed up by a Dominic Moore Empty Netter that sealed the deal and sent the Ducks to a loss.  Though the Rangers are a very good team and on a win streak, The Ducks shot themselves in the foot off of turnovers and bad penalties, not enough opportunities were taken advantage of and they did not back their goaltender up with firepower.  Luckily enough Anaheim learns from these mistakes and is a good team that bounce backs.

Rakell has a career night in this come from behind 5-4 shootout victory over Winnipeg on Teemu night.

Tonight was the night that Teemu Selanne was honored for his illustrious career and especially his time in Anaheim, his number was retired pre game so it was only fitting that his fellow Finn, Sami Vatanen would win the game in the shootout.  Evander Kane scored off a rebound just under 8 minutes to start the game which was responded to by a Power play goal by Rickard Rakell, also a rebound, only the 2nd goal of his NHL regular season career.  Zach Bogosian and Mark Scheifele score back to back goals to end the season with Winnipeg dominating the first period, leading 3-1 after one.  Tim Jackman seemed to have given Anaheim life, opening the 2nd period scoring 13:38 into the middle frame that put them just one goal behind but 4 minutes later The Jets' captain Andrew Ladd put his team ahead by 2 again which was the last goal of the period, The Ducks needed 2 goals in the final frame just to send the game into over time.  Rickard Rakell again made his mark on each goal of the third period, assisting on Palmieri's power play goal and then scoring his own with just over 2 minutes left so the game could continue.  Rakell had a say on every regulation goal, made overtime happen, then again made it possible for the game to continue by scoring in the shootout, Andersen did his part and then Vatanen ended the memorable night by also scoring.  Andersen had another great game, saving 28 shots out of 32 but in regulation was outperformed by Pavelec who had to make more stops because The Ducks were just absolutely relentless, firing off 43 shots which meant that Ondrej had to make 39 saves just to give his team a chance in this one.  This night was so fitting for Selanne, a guy whose career could have been over after production dropped off over a decade again until his return to Anaheim and won a cup at age 37, he went on to play for 7 more years, he scored 90 points as a 37 year old and 80 after turning 40!  Teemu Selanne had just under 1500 career points in just under 1500 career games and 648 goals, a true professional and likable guy, when he speaks you listen and don't regret it, a true ambassador of the game internationally and it was an honor to watch him play.