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Perry leads Ducks in rout of Blue Jackets

Feb 22, 2009 - 5:52 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks are desperately scrambling to stay within striking distance in the tight Western Conference. They earned some relief on Saturday.

Corey Perry scored a goal and set up two others as the Ducks cruised to a 5-2 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Defenseman Chris Pronger, Brendan Morrison, Chris Kunitz and rookie Bobby Ryan each tallied while blue-liner Scott Niedermayer and fellow All-Star Ryan Getzlaf notched two assists apiece for Anaheim, which had dropped three contests in a row.

"We skated, we forechecked and we were physical," Perry said. "We got back to our old system and it worked for us. We know what's ahead of us and who's ahead of us in the standings. We're chasing some teams that we're playing next. We have to have the two points every night have our best effort."

Captain Rick Nash and Kristian Huselius each netted power-play goals for the Blue Jackets, whose two-game winning streak came to an end despite holding a 28-13 margin in shots.

"We weren't near as competitive as we'd like to be," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I didn't like our preparation all day today... I didn't like our energy. It seemed too casual. We had our moments but we were outplayed.

"We took to slow to get into the game. We didn't match their intensity. They were hungry and they fed off of the momentum... They answered the bell today."

Less than two years removed from winning the Stanley Cup, the Ducks are hovering around the eighth and final spot in the West.

"They are all big from here on in," Niedermayer said. "We put ourselves in a situation where we're chasing now. They're all big. We're on the road, facing a bunch of tough opponents the next 10 days. So it's a good win. No question."

However, their playoff hopes will certainly brighten if All-Star Jean-Sebastien Giguere continues to negate a tumultuous campaign.

The troubled netminder - who has been battling inconsistency while dealing with the passing of his father, Claude, in December - made 26 saves and bounced back from a shoddy stretch, during which he surrendered five goals in each of his last two starts.

"It feels great," Giguere said. "We are coming off a tough loss (Friday). It was a must win game. There has not been a bigger game for us this year. We answered the bell. We were physical, we answered the bell, we fought and we scored some goals. We are going to need more of that effort from now on."

Giguere received plenty of support early and often as Anaheim scored twice in both the first and second periods.

Pronger and Morrison tallied in the first, but Nash cut the deficit in half with 7:25 remaining in the second by firing a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle on the man advantage.

However, Perry registered his 21st goal of the season two minutes later and Kunitz ballooned the lead to 4-1 with 1:45 left in the session.

Huselius scored a power-play tally at 1:57 of the third, but Ryan secured the victory by tipping in Andrew Ebbett's initial shot midway through the period.

"We scored on our chances, that's really the difference in the hockey game," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "Tonight the pucks went in for us. We were fortunate. We made the most of our opportunities."

Columbus rookie Steve Mason stopped eight shots, falling to 4-1-1 since returning from a brief stint on injured reserve with mononucleosis.

"Mason would probably like to have a couple of them back, but he's saved our bacon more than anybody could imagine this season," Hitchcock said.