Anaheim Ducks prove victorious without Perry

(photo credit: Dinur Blum)

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Minnesota Wild by an inch at 5-4 at Xcel Energy Center on Friday night. To say the night was just successful would be a complete understatement. Things might have gotten murky if it wasn’t for the go-getter left winger Matt Beleskey and his tiebreaking goal with 11:32 left in regulation.

The Ducks had an early lead in the game and the score became 3-0 early in the second. Between the second and third period, the Wild suddenly bounced back and scored four unanswered goals to take the lead over. Their luck did not last for long because Anaheim tied up the score not long after after Minnesota’s comeback. Beleskey scored his third game-winning goal of the season which was also his 13th overall goal scored so far this year. The game ended in just a pinch with Anaheim goal tender Frederik Andersen taking the win with 21 saves for the night.

Ducks center Ryan Kesler opened the score board for the night after grabbing a loose puck and beating Wild goal tender Darcy Kuemper on a breakaway. Right winger Jakob Silfverberg kept the score going as he shot on a rebound from Andrew Cogliano at 11:44 to end the first at 2-0. Kesler was on fire for the rest of the game as he scored his second goal of the night at just 2:28 into the second period with assists from Hampus Lindholm and Tim Jackman. Jackman managed to tie up the game in the third with an assist from Kesler and the rest of the game was definitely in the Ducks’ favor.

Anaheim pulled through to the end without one of its top scorers, Corey Perry. Perry, or “Scorey” Perry as some people like to call him, left with a lower-body injury just 9:37 into the game after suffering a hip check from Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard. It was so bad that Perry had to be helped off the ice and did not return for the rest of the night. Just hearing that Perry was out would start to give Anaheim fans something to worry about and would have been the perfect chance for the Wild to start taking advantage of Anaheim’s lack of a man but the Ducks still proved dominant in the end.

The Anaheim Ducks will be going up against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday to see if they can keep their winning streak going strong.