Shootout Win Brings Ducks Streak to Six

By Jen D’Amico

In front of 13,000+ screaming fans, the Ducks brought their winning streak to six Friday, the first time in club history the team has won six of its first seven contests. Goalie Jonas Hiller remains undefeated this season and is tied with Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask for the league record with a .954 save percentage, while Teemu Selanne scored his 450th goal in orange and black. This was the first matchup of the season for the Ducks and Coyotes, which includes former Duck Kyle Chipchura.

Selanne puts the boys on the board early in the first with a slider, making his 677th career goal look as easy as the first. Ducks kill the first power play with Cogliano in the box for slashing, and then lose Winnik with thirty seconds to the close of the first with an ugly blood-drawing high stick to the face by Coyotes Yandle.

The second starts with 3:31 of power play time on the board and Winnik back on the ice with a visor, but the Ducks come up empty. Vermette gets his revenge on Hiller after a short-sided glove save in the first to score the first for the Coyotes to tie it up, just seconds after Ducks are full strength from a Vatanen tripping penalty. The Ducks are unable to answer back, and the second closes with a 1-1 score.

The third looked a bit desperate for the Ducks who needed a point for the win. A call for too many men and a slashing call shortly after were followed up by a Coyotes goal to bring it to 2-1 Phoenix. With 2:01 left, Ducks Bonino flings it to the net, barely missing teammate Penner’s head, for a last minute unassisted goal to tie it up.

Overtime proves unfruitful for either team, and the game moves into shootout. Bonino channeled his prowess from last season’s playoffs to sink the first fifth period goal. Each team equally answers back and brings it to a sixth shooter. Silfverberg makes his first SO goal as a Duck, and Hiller shuts down Doan for a 3-2 Ducks win.

“No Matter how ugly it is, we battled back and got one late and were able to win a long shootout,” said Bonino. “We’ll take wins like this every day, two point is two points.”

The Ducks finish their homestand tonight against Dallas, looking to bring their streak to seven before hitting the road for a grueling eight straight games. They will join many other NHL teams during the month of October with the evening serving as Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by Loma Linda University Health.

“Obviously Dallas is a great team,” said Emerson Etem at Saturday’s practice. “We need to get a lot of shots, play a simple game, make sure we don’t turn it over at both lines and play a simple game”.

Ducks Goalie Viktor Fasth is still out due to injury. Hiller will start looking to improve his already stellar record.