The beat goes on. When the Anaheim Ducks bested the Nashville Predators, 3-2 in a shootout on Feb 16, they set a new franchise record by going 5-1 on a six game road trip. Their .833 winning percentage was also the best winning percentage of any five games or more road trip in team history. They had contests against Colorado, Dallas, St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and Nashville in that order. They were able to beat every team but Dallas, to whom they lost 3-1 on Feb 8.
Perhaps the highlight was defeating the Chicago Blackhawks, who currently hold the best record in the NHL. After Andrew Cogliano tied the game with less than three mins to play, the Ducks killed off four mins of power play time, and ultimately earned a shootout victory.
The trip began with a shutout win on Feb 6 in Colorado, and ended with a shootout win on Feb 16 in Nashville. They outscored opponents, 21-14.
Rookie goaltender Viktor Fasth continues to amaze. The Swedish import has now won all eight of his NHL starts. He currently stands one win away from tying the all-time NHL record held by goaltender Ray Emery, who began his NHL career by winning his first nine starts.
Fasth has a goals against avg of 1.78 and a save percentage of .933. His eight wins tie him with Montreal's Carey Price for the NHL lead.
Anaheim played the entire road trip without the services of defenseman Cam Fowler, who has been out with an upper body injury, since leaving the game on Feb 2 against the Los Angeles Kings.
Standing at 11-2-1, the Ducks now have the NHL's second-best overall record. They are 9-1 in the month of February, and will host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night in Anaheim.
The ageless wonder Teemu Selanne leads the team in scoring, with 15 points.
The top defensive pairing of Francois Beauchimin and Sheldon Souray lead the NHL in plus/minus rating, with a +14 and +13 respectively.
Bobby Ryan had spent several games playing center, but in the most recent game (vs Nashville), he was moved back to his regular position of Left wing, and played on a line centered by Nick Bonino, with Teemu Selanne on Right wing.
The Ducks will have almost a full week off after the Monday night game against Columbus, as they will not play again until Sun, Feb 24 against the Colorado Avalanche, in Anaheim.
Ducks most recent line combinations:
Getzlaf/Perry/Beleskey
Koivu/Cogliano/Winnick
Bonino/Selanne/Ryan
*Holland/*Maroon/Palmieri
Defense pairings:
Souray/Beauchemin
Lydman/Sbisa
Lovejoy/Allen
* On Feb 13, Forward Emerson Etem was assigned to AHL Norfolk Admirals, and Forward Rickard Rickell was assigned to the OHL Plymouth Whalers. The team called up Peter Holland and Patrick Maroon from AHL Norfolk.
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