Final
Red-hot Ducks visit lowly Panthers
Nov 12, 2013 - 4:08 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Anaheim Ducks managed to stay hot without their captain, keeping a perfect home record intact.It is unknown if the Ducks will have Ryan Getzlaf's services on Tuesday night when they begin a four-game road trip with a matchup against the struggling Florida Panthers.
An upper-body injury kept Getzlaf out of Sunday's home game against the Vancouver Canucks and left the forward day-to-day. He is tops on Anaheim with 12 assists and 22 points, but the Ducks were able to overcome his absence with a 3-1 win.
Corey Perry and Nick Bonino scored second-period goals and Andrew Cogliano tallied into an empty net for the Ducks, who wrapped a perfect three-game homestand to move to 8-0-0 at home on the season. They are 8-0-1 in their last nine overall and their 15-3-1 record matches the best start for the club through 19 games.
Frederik Andersen made 35 saves for an Anaheim club that is also without forwards Saku Koivu and Jakob Silfverberg and backup netminder Viktor Fasth due to injury.
"When you're missing the second-leading scorer in the league, your captain, and arguably one of the best players in the world, you're always going to miss him," said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. "But I thought we did a great job of battling. The team wanted to show we can survive injuries because we have good depth. It gave others guys a chance to play and I think they stepped up to the plate."
Perry stepped up with his team-leading 11th goal and has notched five goals and eight points over his last five games.
Anaheim is 7-3-1 on the road this season and has taken three straight and five of its last six versus the Panthers. That includes shutout victories in each of its past two trips to Florida, where the Ducks have also won three in a row.
Jonas Hiller, the likely starter tonight for the Ducks, is 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average and two shutouts versus the Panthers, stopping 93-of-96 shots faced. He posted a 31-save shutout in the most recent meeting on Feb. 19, 2012, a 2-0 road win.
The Panthers don't seem likely to reverse those struggles tonight given that they are 0-5-4 in their past nine games and have dropped 12 of their last 13 overall. That includes a pair of setbacks in their first two games under interim head coach Peter Horachek.
Florida lost a 4-3 decision to the New York Rangers on Sunday, with Tim Thomas allowing four goals on 29 shots. Brian Campbell scored twice and Aleksander Barkov added a goal.
"I believe guys have bought in. They want to turn this corner so bad," Thomas said. "It just hasn't happened yet. It's going to. We just have to stick with it."
Thomas has faced the Ducks five times in his career, going 2-3-0 with a 2.79 GAA and one shutout.
- ANAHEIM: 2
FLORIDA: 3
Final
Nov 12 10:06 PM - ANAHEIM: 2
FLORIDA: 2
End of 2nd
Nov 12 9:07 PM - ANAHEIM: 2
FLORIDA: 0
End of 1st
Nov 12 8:13 PM - Anaheim Goal - Andrew Cogliano, from Daniel Winnik and Devante Smith-Pelly at :40.
Ducks 1, Panthers 0 1st - 19:20Nov 12 7:41 PM - ANAHEIM: 0
FLORIDA: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Nov 12 7:40 PM
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