Ryan Kesler’s Hat Trick Lifts Anaheim Ducks Over Flyers
By Julius Choi
The Anaheim Ducks ring in the new year with an absolute stinker but still found a way to come up with two points.
Were those two points well deserved? No. The 55 shots on the goal that the Philadelphia Flyers mustard was the most shots allowed by the Anaheim Ducks since a 2004 contest between the Detroit Red Wings (57, a franchise record).
Philadelphia had 24 shots to Anaheim’s 7 in the middle frame, potting two goals as a result. The final score in the shootout:
68. 4. 105. Final. 3
No ‘I’ In Team
It has been a storyline for the season that the highest paid players on the team in Perry and Getzlaf have not been their usual selves. Which would result in the rest of the squad to step up in their absence. But this game was the perfect example of how contagious this behavior can be.
The only player on the team that showed up to play was Ryan Kesler. He scored every regulation goal for the Anaheim Ducks, converting on 3 of 5 shots to notch the fourth hat trick of his career.
Which makes sense given that he is the team’s leader in essentially every scoring category. But even he wasn’t pleased with the overall performance.
"“Good teams win with their B, C or D games. You’re not going to have your ‘A’ game every night, and we certainly didn’t tonight.”"
Back Breaking Performance
Of course on the first day of the new year, our newly appointed No. 1 goalie John Gibson would play a phenomenal game despite having his share of struggles in net this season.
He stopped a career high 51 of 54 shots on the night.
John Gibson made a career-high 51 saves to match @AnaheimDucks record for most in a game, last achieved by Jonas Hiller on Dec. 19, 2008. pic.twitter.com/sq3qaO4bgF
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 2, 2017
He was benched after allowing the game-tying goal, making Bernier fill in for whopping 3:48 and one save before Randy Carlyle granted the Pennsylvania native was inserted back in.
If it wasn’t for the benching, Gibson would have been able to set the franchise record for most saves in a game.
A ‘Perry’book Ending
There have been better times in Corey Perry’s career but he reminded us that despite it not coming in bunches like we are used to, goal scoring his still in his veins.
He scored the game cliching goal in round 5 of the shootout before Gibson put the cherry on top with a stop on Sean Couturier.
The approach in the shootout was a peculiar one as Perry usually swings wide right before closing in on target to snipe.
What’s Next:
The Detroit Red Wings will visit the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday for a 7:30 PM Pacific opening face-off.
Detroit fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-4 in overtime, in the Centennial Classic on New Year’s Day.