Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg each scored two goals, and Ryan Miller had 23 saves to become the all-time winningest US-born goalie, as the Anaheim Ducks dominated play to earn a 5-2 victory Sunday night over the visiting Washington Capitals.
Corey Perry added his first goal of the season as the Ducks won for the second time in three games since Bob Murray took over as interim head coach for Randy Carlyle, who was fired. Alex Ovechkin scored a goal for the Capitals, giving him his 10th 40-goal season.
The Ducks went on four power plays, delivering on two of them in the third period. Henrique scored his second goal of the game, and 12th of the season, 37 seconds into the final period on the man advantage, giving the Ducks a 3-2 lead. Three minutes later, Perry also on the power play for a 4-2 lead. It was just his eighth game of the season after recovering from a knee injury last season that required surgery.
Cam Fowler earned the assist on Perry’s goal, moving him past Scott Niedermayer for most assists by a Ducks defenseman all-time with 205. The Ducks retired Niedermayer’s No. 27 in a pre-game ceremony, making him the third Anaheim player with a number in the rafters, along with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne. Miller, who was playing in his first game since Dec. 9 because of a sprained knee, moved past John Vanbiesbrouck for most victories by a US-born goalie with 375. The night did not start out so promising when Ovechkin scored 4:58 into the game when his blast from outside of the left circle hit Miller on his right side and squirted under his right arm. It was Ovechkin’s 12th power-play goal, tying him for fifth most in the league.
After Henrique and Silfverberg scored in the second period for a 2-1 Ducks lead, John Carlson scored an unassisted goal to tie the score at 2-all just three minutes before the second intermission. The Ducks dominated play in the third period, finishing off the scoring with just over five minutes remaining when Silfverberg scored his 15th goal of the season. Henrique and Perry each added an assist, while Ryan Getzlaf had two assists. The Ducks, who entered with an NHL-worst 125 goals, scored 11 goals in two games against the Capitals this season.
Blues trounce Wild
Rookie Jordan Binnington recorded his second straight shutout and the third consecutive for the St Louis Blues, who breezed to a franchise-high-tying 10th straight win with Sunday’s 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, Minn.
Vladimir Tarasenko extended his point streak to a career-best 12 games with a goal and two assists to stake Binnington, who made 31 saves to win his franchise-rookie-record eighth straight start. Binnington highlighted the performance by denying Wild defenseman Ryan Suter from point-blank range late in the second period, and notched his fourth shutout and improve to 12-1-1 on the season.
Ryan O’Reilly and Brayden Schenn each scored and set up a goal, and defenseman Vince Dunn also tallied for the Blues, who defeated Minnesota for the first time in three tries this season.
Alex Stalock turned aside 26 shots for the Wild, who have dropped five in a row at home (0-3-2) and eight of nine overall (1-5-3).
St. Louis opened the scoring with a power-play tally. O’Reilly gained possession of the puck along the right-wing boards before sending a cross-slot pass to Tarasenko, who made no mistake from the left circle for his team-leading 26th goal at 5:08 of the first period. Tarasenko returned the favor with 30 seconds remaining in the period, wiring a cross-seam pass to O’Reilly in the right circle. O’Reilly wristed a shot over the right shoulder of Stalock, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead and netting Tarasenko his 400th career point – with 22 (11 goals, 11 assists) coming during his last 12 games. Tarasenko received a scare just 40 seconds into second period, as he lost his balance and fell feet first into the boards while fending off Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon. Tarasenko returned to the ice a few minutes later.
Evgeny Kuznetsov of the Washington Capitals (centre) and Adam Henrique (left) of the Anaheim Ducks fight for control of the puck during the second period at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
