Anaheim Ducks Three Stars of the Week (March 5-11)
It’s once again time to unveil our Anaheim Ducks Three Stars of the Week.
It wasn’t a great week for the Ducks. They started the week with a 4-0 shutout win over Washington at the Honda Center last Tuesday. Unfortunately, Anaheim wasn’t able to bring its home ice mojo with them on the road. Thursday night, the Ducks dropped a 4-2 decision in Nashville. They followed it on Friday by getting doubled up again (2-1) in Dallas the next night.
Honorable Mention
We have two players here this week. First is Ryan Kesler for getting physical with Nashville’s Ryan Johansen. The other is defenseman Marcus Petterson. The Swedish defenseman gets his honor for not playing Thursday night. His absence showed Coach Randy Carlyle he can’t have Kevin Bieksa and Francois Beauchemin in the lineup for the same game.
Third Star – Rickard Rakell
Rakell earned his spot by having a good week despite his team’s performance. Against Washington, Ricky Rack scored a picturesque goal and also assisted on Adam Henrique’s power-play goal 1:24 into the game. He had an even bigger night on Thursday. Rakell’s two goals were the only tallies the Ducks had on the night. More importantly, they were his 29th and 30th goals of the season. Number 67 was at it again the next game as he assisted on Anaheim’s only goal.
Second Star – John Gibson
Just like his team, goalie John Gibson had an up and down week. He was in net for Tuesday’s shutout and was absolutely fantastic. Gibby stopped all 36 shots he faced against a very good offensive team in the Caps. He wasn’t as sharp in his next outing on Thursday. Although Gibson let up four goals, he held his team in contention up until the final two minutes.
First Star – Ryan Getzlaf
There wasn’t anyone close to the captain this week. Often it felt like Getzlaf’s line was carrying the team. He scored in all three games, extending his point streak to seven straight. Against Washington, Getzlaf had two assists, including the opening (and deciding) goal. He followed that performance by assisting on both Ducks goals in Nashville. Getzlaf didn’t have an assist Friday night because he scored Anaheim’s only goal at Dallas