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Ducks hoping to ride Ryan's hot streak to wins

Jan 9, 2009 - 11:48 AM Tampa Bay (11-19-10) at Anaheim (21-16-5) 10:00 p.m. EST

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Rookie Bobby Ryan is beginning to find his rhythm in the professional ranks. The Anaheim Ducks are hoping that his recent surge can translate into wins.

Ryan and the Ducks look to bounce back on Friday when they return home to face the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 21-year-old right wing, Ryan recorded his first career hat trick on Thursday, extending his goal-scoring streak to three games and registering points for the ninth time in the previous 10 contests.

Ryan erased a 3-0 deficit by recording a natural hat trick in less than three minutes of game time spanning the final two periods. His flurry was not enough as the Ducks dropped a 4-3 decision to the Los Angeles Kings, falling to 3-4-2 in its last nine games.

"It's tough to succeed and have a good night when your team's not going as well as you would like," Ryan said. "We got behind the eight ball early and gave them too many opportunities, and didn't take advantage of the ones we got. We didn't deserve the two points tonight, that's for sure."

After snapping an 0-2-1 stretch with a three-goal victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday, Tampa Bay returned to its losing ways on Thursday, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Jeff Halpern registered a power-play goal and an assist and defenseman Andrej Meszaros also scored for the Lightning, who are four points ahead of the last-place New York Islanders (12-26-4) in the Eastern Conference.