Anaheim Ducks Roll Past Canucks, Back In First Place
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
After a full week of being in second place, the Anaheim Ducks made sure that feeling wouldn’t last any longer.
Following the San Jose Sharks defeat earlier in the day, the Ducks steamrolled the Canucks 5-1 at Rogers Arena to regain first place in the Pacific Division.
The Ducks (48-18-8) stormed out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Luca Sbisa and Matt Beleskey. Sbisa’s slap shot from the point was his first goal of the season while Beleskey tallied his sixth.
Vancouver (34-31-11) would creep within one after Brad Richardson converted on a rebound past Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen, but Anaheim went on to score three unanswered goals the rest of the way courtesy of Saku Koivu, Corey Perry and Mathieu Perreault.
After giving up one in the first period, Andersen shut the door on the Canucks, finishing with 31 saves.
In a physical game from beginning, both teams looked to rough each other up. Patrick Maroon and Zack Kassian were both jawing at each other during warm ups, leading to a brief tussle early in the first period.
Ryan Getzlaf and Alex Burrows would then drop the gloves midway through the second period. Getzlaf appeared to cut his hand during the fight, but stayed in the game. He would get hit by a slap shot in the shin later in the game and left for precautionary reasons.
There is no word on the extent of Getzlaf’s injury.
Coming into the contest, Anaheim’s power play had been a topic of discussion as the Ducks have struggled all season long. Despite plenty of opportunities, the Ducks only hit the back of the net on one of their five power play chances.
However, special teams weren’t necessary as the Ducks ran away with the game early.
The Ducks finish up their western Canadian road trip 2-0-1 and will return to Honda Center on Monday to take on the Winnipeg Jets.
With eight games remaining, the Ducks have put themselves in a great position to finish on top of the Pacific Division.
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