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Ducks hand Senators loss in Stanley Cup rematch

Mar 4, 2008 - 8:10 AM By Joel Bergman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - The Ottawa Senators' last trip to the Honda Center ended in heartbreak. Monday's visit didn't go any better.

Todd Bertuzzi and Corey Perry each tallied first-period goals and Jean-Sebastien Giguere posted 24 saves for the Anaheim Ducks en route to a 3-1 victory over the Senators.

Ottawa, which saw its championship dreams come to an end at the Honda Center last June in a 6-2 loss in Game Five of the 2007 Stanley Cup, had just about as much luck finding the net on Monday as it did during the Finals, when its dynamic offense managed just four goals in three games here.

"I think that we tried to stress that there was a different feeling about preparing for the game," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "We felt that the matchup against them last year would be some incentive."

"Obviously, it is an exciting game to play the team we played in the Finals last year," Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "It was a good win for us. We were ready for their best. I think they got a little off their game. Sometimes, it is tough when you feel the calls and penalties aren't going your way."

Anaheim's win, the sixth in a row to close out its seven-game homestand, moved the Ducks (38-23-7) to within four points of the idle Dallas Stars (41-23-5) for the Pacific Division lead.

"I guess you'd have to be somewhat satisfied with the record during this homestand," joked Carlyle, back after missing one game with the flu. "It's not often you get to run the table. There are no easy games in the NHL, and by no means was this easy. I think it's a credit to the work ethic and commitment our players have put in."

Meanwhile, the defeat sent the Senators to their fourth loss in their last five contests, including an 1-2-0 mark since general manager Brian Murray took over the reins of the team from the fired John Paddock.

"I think we've come out a lot better," Senators defenseman Wade Redden said. "We had a much better effort in the last three games since he (Murray) has been behind the bench. We just need to keep going that way and get our wins. Good things will happen if we keep working hard."

The Ducks opened the scoring at 11:58 of the first period when Ryan Getzlaf worked his way down the right wing boards to the top of the circle and spotted Bertuzzi cutting down the left wing. Bertuzzi one-timed it past Senators netminder Martin Gerber into the open left side of the net for his 13th goal of the season.

"I was basically set up from Getz (Getzlaf)," Bertuzzi said. "Getz came down the wing and he froze Gerber pretty good. He threw it over, and it was just a matter of getting it on net and (hit it as) hard as I could. It was nice that it went in."

With Redden in the penalty box for interference, Anaheim increased its lead to 2-0 at 15:00 of the first.

Doug Weight out-fought the Senators' defense for the puck along the boards to the left of Gerber and slid the puck back to Scott Niedermayer at the right point. The former Ducks' captain took two steps toward the net and fired a wrist shot into traffic.

The puck deflected off Perry and into the net to the right of Gerber for the two-goal edge. It was Perry's 29th tally of the campaign.

Ottawa put together its only offensive charge just 35 seconds later.

Daniel Alfredsson slid the puck behind the Ducks net to Dany Heatley, who dished it to defenseman Christoph Schubert 10 feet inside the blue line at center. Schubert sent a soft wrist shot toward Giguere that found its way through a screen for his sixth goal of the season.

"I didn't see it - the release or anything like that - and I was a little deep as well," Giguere said. "He was kind of lucky, it just found the post and went in. (Those) things happen."

Blue-liner Scott Niedermayer added an insurance tally at 9:59 of the third on the power play to out Anaheim ahead, 3-1.

The Senators, who were down two players because of a high-sticking call on Mike Fisher and abuse of officials penalty on the Ottawa bench 47 seconds earlier, sensed an opportunity to tie the game after turning the Ducks' over in their zone.

As Ottawa tried to push the puck ahead, Getzlaf intercepted the pass and found Mathieu Schneider in the middle of the ice. With Gerber clearly out of position, Schneider laid a perfect pass on the stick of Niedermayer, who easily sailed a slap shot into a wide-open net.

"It was a 5-on-3 and (Mathieu Schneider) made a real nice play coming down the middle and selling the shot," Niedermayer said. "I think everybody on the ice probably thought he was going to shoot, and then he slammed it over to me. I had an empty net and all I had to do was get it in there."

Murray let his feelings be known about what he felt was an unevenly officiated game.

"(Mike) Fisher gets the penalty, and Corey Perry twice in the game cross-checked guys coming to the bench," Murray said. "That's just the norm for him. It appears after I got thrown out (four minutes later), he finally gets a penalty.

"I apologized to them (the players for the second penalty). I put them in a bad spot. It was a 2-1 game, and we had a chance to win. ... There is no question that I should never do that, and it won't happen again. (The referee) saw the incident between the players at the bench and he gave our player the minor penalty. I was upset about it. I'd seen too many things during the game."

Redden was equally dismayed by the officiating.

"There wasn't much called, that's for sure," he said. "There was a lot of battling. Alfredsson gets cross-checked in the back and nothing is called. There is nothing we can do about the refs. Even on my (first-period interference) penalty, I was just kind of whacking at the puck and the guy dropped his stick and it's a penalty."

Gerber finished with 28 saves for the Senators, who are just 8-14-2 in their last 24 games.