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Beauchemin's late tally makes Ducks' home opener a success

Oct 11, 2007 - 7:06 AM By Joel Bergman PA Sportsticker Contributing Editor

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The 12,000-mile, season-opening road trip could not have ended soon enough for the Anaheim Ducks.

Defenseman Francois Beauchemin snapped a tie in the third period and Ryan Getzlaf registered a goal and an assist as the Ducks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday in their home opener.

Early season trips to London, England, Detroit, Columbus and Pittsburgh resulted in a 1-3-1 start, but Anaheim would not be denied its celebration on this night.

The drop of the puck was put on hold so the Ducks could raise their Pacific Division, Western Conference and Stanley Cup championship banners. And the Stanley Cup made its final appearance in Southern California before it is returned to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

"I think that when you're in a situation like that, you're kind of in awe for the first 10-20 minutes with the ceremony," Getzlaf said. "We were able to enjoy that and still come up with the win tonight. They came out skating a little bit and we weren't really prepared. We played pretty well the rest of the night."

Beauchemin snapped a 1-1 tie with 6:25 remaining in the third period by sending a fluttering slap shot that found its way to the back of the net.

"I just tried to put it on net and hope that it finds a way to get through," Beauchemin said.

After Getzlaf won a faceoff, Shane Hnidy pushed the puck over fellow blue-liner Beauchemin, who unleashed a shot that deflected off the stick of Bruins defenseman Andrew Alberts and past goaltender Tim Thomas.

"It was a set play off of the faceoff," Beauchemin added. "Getz won it back to Shane, and Shane got it to me for the shot. It found its way through. I think it hit a stick before it went in."

Boston quieted the raucous crowd early by the scoring 65 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Chuck Kobasew took a pass from Glen Metropolit just across center ice and skated down the left wing. As Kobasew reached the top of the faceoff circle, he blew past defenseman Chris Pronger and put a wrist shot between the pads of netminder Ilya Bryzgalov.

"It was just a turnover in the neutral zone," Kobasew said. "I had my step going to the left side, and I saw Pronger was about to turn his feet, so I tried to get around him. I was taking it wide and was able to find the five-hole."

Bryzgalov, who has received the majority of the starts while Jean-Sebastien Giguere continues to recover from sports hernia surgery, settled down after that. He kept the Ducks within one midway through the second period, making a tough glove save on Glen Murray.

"It was a great game," Bryzgalov said. "But if you give up more shots, the game's a little more interesting for me. But we don't because our team was playing outstanding tonight. I think we deserve this win."

Bryzgalov turned aside a total of 18 shots, holding Boston scoreless for the final 58 minutes, 55 seconds.

"I thought we showed a tremendous amount of resiliency when the first shot went in," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "We didn't panic. We turned the puck over far too many times in the first period, but once we got our game going, we built on the confidence of moving the puck."

Getzlaf tied the contest at 1-1 when he poked the puck past Thomas's left skate from the edge of the crease for his third goal of the season at 10:52 of the second period.

With the teams skating 4-on-4, Getzlaf's forechecking knocked the puck away from Boston captain Zdeno Chara and behind the net. Getzlaf threw the puck back to Kent Huskins high in the left circle, where the defenseman fired a slap shot toward the net.

"When you turn hits into turnovers, it's a good feeling," Getzlaf said.

The puck was blocked in front and came to Getzlaf low in the left circle before he skated in front and beat Thomas from close range.

Boston coach Claude Julien felt the Bruins executed their game plan in the first period.

"We wanted to move the puck quickly out of our end and get the puck in deep and create some forecheck," he said. "I thought we did a great job in the neutral zone that caused turnovers. I thought the effort was there for the most part, but what we failed at a little bit was when we stopped putting the puck in deep on these guys."

Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer and Giguere all were in attendance wearing suits and ties to help the franchise celebrate its first division and Stanley Cup titles. Both Selanne and Niedermayer continue to sit out as they contemplate retirement.

The Ducks did get back of one of the key components of their Stanley Cup squad. Samuel Pahlsson, who was a finalist for the Selke Trophy last season, came off injured reserve and suited up, unexpectedly, for the first time this season. Pahlsson won 15 of 28 faceoffs and was selected as the third star of the game.