With a 5-1 loss to Minnesota on Friday, the Ducks are starting to look a little lame.  Their efforts on Wednesday, albeit losing ones, made for a wild game against the Capitals, but at least it was even for the majority of the game.  The game against the Wild just looked bad.

It started off well, with Corey Perry scoring the first goal at 3:30.  Perry's 30th of the year turned out to be the only Ducks goal of the game.  Niklas Backstom stopped everything else.

The same could not be said for Curtis McElhinney, who continues to get the nod in goal because Jonas Hiller is on IR with dizziness and Timo Pielmeier, who is sitting on the bench as back up, has not played a single minute in the NHL.   McElhinney, as on Wednesday, was not at fault for all the goals that went in the net. 

"There need to be some saves made at critical points in the game, and they aren't happening right now," said McElhinney. "I need to find a way to get it done."

The Ducks affinity for turnovers (great from the bakery, crappy on the ice), did not help their cause one iota. 

Mikko Koivu had tied up the game at 5:01 before blocking a shot with his hand and heading to the locker room.  Koivu did not return to the ice for the rest of the game, but his teammates handled everything just fine. 

"To lose a guy like we did during the game, everyone's got to step up a little bit and we did," said Kyle Brodziak, who had a goal and two assists.  "He's a huge player on our team and it's a big void when he's not in there."

Anaheim had their second power play opportunity with Matt Cullen in the box before Brent Burns joined him with a double minor for high sticking.   There was only :03 seconds of 5 on 3 time, but as soon as Cullen was out of the box the Ducks turned the puck over to Brodziak.  Brodziak sent it down the ice to Cullen, who was a Duck for the first 427 games of his career.  The crowd just knew Cullen was going to put the puck in the net and erupted when he fulfilled that hope at 15:07. 

Short handed goal.  2-1 Minnesota.  Game over. 

Sure, they played the rest of the time, but for the Ducks, that was it.   In the second period Eric Nystrom and Brodziak scored :27 seconds apart and completely blew the game out of the water.  Martin Havlat's goal late in the third just added one more exclamation point to Minnesota's efforts.

The Ducks can ill afford to lose two games in a row at this point in the season. With a Western Conference race tighter than skinny jeans on an elephant, every point matters. 

The Ducks are now clinging to 8th place in the conference and have no squish room whatsoever.  There are four teams below them within four points of them in the standings.  St. Louis, whom the Ducks play on Saturday, are just seven points behind. 

Anaheim must redeem itself on Saturday and then turn around and make the most of the next 10 games, nine of which are at home.  Regardless of who is in goal, the Ducks need to score and not commit sloppy plays that bite them in the butt.  If they can clean things up, they might give themselves a better chance.  Otherwise, playoffs can be turned over to more deserving teams.

Four wins on the road for the Ducks could not be followed up with a win at home against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.  Eight of their past ten games have been on the road, and the Ducks have performed admirably by winning seven of them. 

Those two games at home, where they have been strong all season?  Both of them have been losses, including a wild offense laden game between Anaheim and the Capitals.   Goaltending was not the highlight in the 7-6 loss for either team.

Semyon Varlamov let in three goals and only got one period to play for the Capitals before being benched in favor of Michal Neuvirth.  Neuvirth did not fare any better, also letting in three goals.

On the Anaheim side, Curtis McElhinney got the start with Jonas Hiller out again on IR with dizziness symptoms.  McElhinney, who has been terrific of late, let in seven goals, not all of which were his fault.  Barring injury, you knew that McElhinney was going to have to gut it out for the whole game.  Nothing against Timo Pielmeier, but in a game like that one, it would not matter who was in net.

"It was frustrating and a difficult night," McElhinney said. "The offense put up six goals and we end up giving up seven. A better performance was needed from me tonight and it wasn't there. It's disheartening to let the boys down like that."

The game went back and forth and back forth, not being decided until there was less than two minutes to go.  Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and three assists, as did linemate Corey Perry.  One of Perry's goals was shorthanded (his third of the year) and he is sixth in points in the NHL.

Teemu Selanne made an inexplicable error by turning over the puck to Brooks Laich in the first period.  Laich was right in front of McElhinney who had no chance on the point blank shot.   Selanne redeemed himself a couple minutes later with his 18th goal of the year.  He is now one goal away from tying Joe Sakic on the all time goals list at 625. 

Alex Ovechkin scored while falling to the ice and his teammate, Alexander Semin had a hat trick.  The third goal at 18:13 of the third period was the game winner as well. 

Toni Lydman, Lubomir Visnovsky and Bobby Ryan also scored for the Ducks.  For Visnovsky, it was his 400th career point.

Dave Steckel and Mike Knuble did the rest of the damage for the Capitals. 

Although they have been without Hiller for all but one game since the All Star break, it was clear the Ducks were concerned for the teammate's health.  Although not an excuse, the Ducks were not 100% focused.

"I'm terribly disappointed in our hockey team tonight," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle commented. "It seemed like we lost all of our focus on the things that we've done in the previous three weeks or a month. It was one of those games where we didn't do enough things right, other than score six goals. When you score six goals, you should win a hockey game. That is for sure."

Six should be enough.  Early on it looked like someone was going to hit 10. 

So the points were not there for the Ducks, who now find themselves in a five way tie in the Western Conference standings with 68 points.  It could not be more bottle-necked if you tried.   The Pacific Division is the tightest one right now, with only two points, a single game, separating first and fifth place.

The good news is that the Ducks head back out on the road for two more games before settling in for some home cooking.  They will need to go back to their strong home play once they return because there is zero room for error if they want a playoff spot.

In other notes:  After the game it was announced that defenseman Paul Mara had been traded to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2012 draft pick.  Mara was one of nine defensemen and had been a healthy scratch for most of the past two months.   Mara played for the Canadiens last year and was brought in to the Ducks after Lydman suffered double vision prior to training camp.  The Ducks are still d-man heavy, but this is a start.

The Ducks have bigger problems than they thought.  Jonas Hiller, who missed a week after the All-Star break with fatigue and lightheadedness, is still not well.  He came off of IR and played against Edmonton on Sunday, getting the win.

However, Hiller has had a return of the symptoms that have plagued him since early February.  They were reported after practice on Tuesday.  As a precautionary measure, the Ducks have immediately placed him back on IR, which means he will miss the next week at a minimum and will not be going with the Ducks on their upcoming road trip. 

Hiller will continue to be evaluated by doctors and medical personnel, who will try to determine exactly what is ailing the goaltender.

“He’s just saying he’s got that lightheadedness,” coach Randy Carlyle commented. ”He’s got to go through I would say a number of tests to cross off the list of things that quite possibility could be affecting this, from heart monitoring to equilibrium to chiropractic … that battery of tests to find out why he’s feeling the way he is.”

In the meantime, Curtis McElhinney will be reinserted in net with Timo Pielmeier called up once again from the ECHL to back him up.

McElhinney has performed admirably in Hiller's absence and he will have to be sharp this evening when the Ducks take on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

There is no doubt that Hiller's teammates will be thinking about him.

 

“It’s a major concern,” said Toni Lydman after the morning skate. ”We don’t know what’s going on. You’re always worried. He’s a big part of this team. A big part of why we’re in the race and doing so well right now. It’d be nice to have some kind of answers.”

Lydman had his own unanswered questions earlier in the year when he experienced a severe bout of double vision that kept him out of training camp and the first few weeks of the season. 

Hopefully Hiller will not be out as long and they will determine the cause shortly.

In other notes:   The Toronto Maple Leafs picked up Aaron Voros in exchange for a 2011 draft pick.  Voros had been sent to Syracuse on February 9 after clearning waivers in order to make room on the roster for Ryan Getzlaf, who was returning from injury.

The Ducks got their sixth road win in a row and finished off a four game road trip perfectly with a 4-0 shut out over the Edmonton Oilers. 

The Oilers were playing the second of home back-to-back games, and were not their sharpest in either contest.   The Ducks took advantage, scoring just :34 seconds into the game with Teemu Selanne's 623rd career goal.  It turned out to be the game winner, which gives Selanne 100 of those, only the sixth player in NHL history to do so. 

Jonas Hiller took the net for the first time since February 2.  After a disastrous start to that game, he went on IR with fatigue and lightheadedness.   He backed up Curtis McElhinney on Friday night in Calgary and was deemed ready to go on Sunday. 

Hiller picked up his fifth shut out of the year, but he only had to make 12 stops to do so.  Certainly not his usual 30+ shots against, but definitely a kinder, gentler way to reintroduce to game play.

"It wasn't as easy as it looked," Hiller said. "Not getting any shots is never easy. After a couple of weeks now of not having played in a real game, it probably makes it even more difficult."

The game broke open in the second period, with Brandon McMillan and Bobby Ryan scoring 1:14 seconds apart late in the period.  McMillan now has a four game scoring streak and goals in his last three games.   McMillan admitted that good chemistry is developing between he and linemates Dan Sexton and Maxim Lapierre, and it certainly is showing on the scoresheet.

Ryan added a second goal at 1:31 of the third period that chased Devan Dubnyk out of goal.  It was not Dubnyk's fault at all, considering that he was left high and dry by teammates.  Nikolai Khabibulin came in and stopped everything else, but the Oilers failed to even get any decent chances.  They did not even have a shot on goal in the third period until more than 12:00 in.

"We're just playing with a lot of confidence as a team right now," said Selanne. "It takes everybody. It doesn't matter if you play two minutes or you play 30 minutes."

The Ducks get to take their winning streak back home for single game before adding more miles to their travel logs. 

The Ducks also get to head home fourth place in the conference standings and tied with Dallas for the Pacific Division lead.  Dallas has one game in hand, but Anaheim is making a clear run for the division. 

There is a long way to go, but having a strong road presence in addition to dominating on home ice will help the Ducks attain their goal of the post-season once more.

Coming off a 4-3 victory over Vancouver, the Ducks wanted to continue a strong performance on the road.  Going into Calgary has always been a challenge for Anaheim, although not nearly as vexing as a visit to Joe Louis Arena.  Things looked questionable for a while, but the Ducks managed to eke out a 5-4 overtime victory over the Flames and bump up a couple spots in the Western Conference standings. 

Curtis McElhinney, who has been excellent while Jonas Hiller has been out, got the nod again for the third game in a row.  Hiller was activated off the IR and continues to improve, but is still not 100% and good enough to start a game.  He was sitting on the bench as back-up, however, which is definite progress. 

The Ducks got strong play from their second line all night long.  Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Jason Blake all stepped up and were prime contributors to the Ducks victory.

Koivu got his first of two goals on the evening at 13:04 of the first period, with the puck going quickly in and out of the net.  But in is in, no matter how brief.

Calgary regrouped in the first intermission and Rene Bourgue and Olli Jokinen scored :41 seconds apart to give the Flames their first lead in the game less than 4:00 minutes into the second.  Coach Randy Carlyle was livid on the bench and took his timeout, using it to express his displeasure at two extremely poor shifts and defensive breakdowns.  

Anaheim responded to the time out and Koivu tied up the game at 7:34.  The Ducks regained the lead at 10:12 with a short handed goal from Brandon McMillan.  Miikka Kiprusoff clearly felt McMillan was going to make a pass to Corey Perry and prepared for that scenario.  McMillan chose to shoot instead and easily put the puck behind Kiprusoff. 

McMillan continues to shine this season.  In 34 games he has scored 7 goals, two of which have been short-handed.   He has been a good fit for the Ducks and with 2 goals and an assist in the past three games, he shows no signs of returning to the AHL any time soon.

The Ducks took the 3-2 ead into the third period.  Thus far, the Ducks are undefeated when leading after two periods.  It looked like those stats might change when Jarome Iginla tied up the game once more at 5:33 and Curtis Glencross handed Calgary the lead with a beautiful shot at 8:18. 

It appeared that the Flames would gain two points and pass the Ducks in the standings, but Glencross took the only Flames penalty of the game late in the period.  It would end up costing Calgary an extra point.

The venerable 40 year old ageless Finnish wonder, Teemu Selanne, scored on the power play that had two extra players with McElhinney pulled.   With three assists on the evening, Selanne added another four points to his already stellar totals.

The game remained tied in regulation and went to overtime.  Both teams had their chances in the extra session and it seemed inevitable that they would go to a shootout. 

Rookie Cam Fowler had other ideas.  With just :18.6 seconds left, Fowler redeemed himself from an earlier defensive breakdown that led to the Flames third goal.  It was his second chance in overtime and the second one did not miss the net.

"Luckily it went in," said Fowler. "I didn't get as much on it as I would have liked and it looked like it fooled him a little bit.   This was huge for us. If we drop this one, Calgary jumps ahead of us in the standings and now we bump up. You can just see the degree of difficulty that's involved in a conference like this. Every game is huge and all the points matter and we're lucky to come out of here with two." 

The Ducks are now in 5th place in the standings and continue to give themselves a chance at the post-season.   They now dangerously head into Edmonton, the worst team in the conference, and cannot afford to take it "easy" against the Oilers. 

In other notes:  Francois Beauchemin was inserted into the line up after being acquired on Wednesday morning from the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Ducks dressed seven defensemen, using Andy Sutton as a forward on the fourth line.   Timo Pielmeier was sent back to the ECHL as Hiller was activated off IR.  There is no room in Syracuse since the Ducks signed Ray Emery and he has finally gotten his immigration paperwork completed.

 

Nothing says satisfying like defeating the best team in the NHL and handing them only their fourth loss at home.  The Ducks were satsfied after their 4-3 win over Vancouver that keeps them in the playoff hunt.

It was a busy Wednesday for the Ducks, who traded Joffrey Lupul, a prospect and draft pick to Toronto in exchange for Francois Beauchemin early in the day.  Aaron Voros cleared waivers and was sent to Syracuse, which made room for the return of Ryan Getzlaf to the line up.

The Ducks got the strong start they needed in a building that has been difficult for virtually all teams visiting this season.  Jason Blake scored just :56 seconds into the first period.

In the second period, Brandon McMillan and Bobby Ryan scored :46 seconds apart to make it 3-0.  Dan Sexton made a well timed play getting the puck to McMillan, who put the puck in behind Cory Schneider at 3:26, not long after a Canucks penalty had expired.

The Ryan goal itself was not a thing of beauty, but the Getzlaf pass was!  Getzlaf faked everyone out but his teammate, making the Canucks believe he was going to shoot the puck.  The goalie went down, the defense prepared themselves and then Getzlaf spun around and sent a behind the back pass to Ryan who had no problem finishing the play.

Getzlaf, who missed nearly six weeks with fractured nasal passages and came back wearing a visor, clearly had less rust than would have been expected.

"I think he hadn't missed a beat," Ryan said. "There were a couple of shifts early where Getzy has to get his timing back. He missed a lot of hockey, but the on-ice intangibles, the plays that he makes and the passes that he feeds -- like on (my) first goal. You can't replace that. We'll take our captain back, and (Perry) and I will certainly take our center back."

To say the building was quiet after the third goal would be an understatement, but the Canucks showed their tenacity and skill and got back into the game.

On the only power play they had, Daniel Sedin put the Canucks on the board at 7:22.  It was a wise thing to be disciplined against Vancouver, who will happily make you pay for your sins.   Curtis McElhinney, who was in net again while Jonas Hiller recovers from fatigue and lightheadedness, saw his bid for a second shut out in a row end.

Early in the third period, Alex Burrows brought the Canucks back within one goal at 5:42.  It was Burrows 100th career goal, but more importantly got the crowd back into the game. 

Coach Randy Carlyle, sensing a momentum shift by the Canucks, took a wise time out for his team.  His players responded on the next shift with Ryan's second goal of the game at 6:10.  Somehow it found it's way in on the short side off the post.

Never say never for the Canucks, and their coach pulled Schneider with 2:16 left in the game, in the hopes that the Canucks could tie things up.  They almost did. 

Ryan Kesler scored with :20.2 seconds remaining, making the empty net that Corey Perry missed by a fraction of an inch that much more frustrating. 

The Canuck storm did not let up until the final horn sounded and the Ducks hung on for the 4-3 win.  McElhinney's 35 stops were critical to the Ducks success.

The scariest part of the game came just after Ryan's second goal.  Dan Hamhuis was behind the Ducks net and Getzlaf hit him cleanly in the shoulder.  Hamhuis, who had begun to turn to avoid the hit, was spun around, slammed into the glass and clearly unconscious when he fell to the ice limply.  After a long period on the ice, Hamhuis was helped off by the trainer and teammates, but did not return to the game.   There was no penalty called on Getzlaf and it was deemed a clean hit.  Hopefully all is well with Hamhuis and he recovers quickly.

The Ducks now head to Calgary, where Beauchemin is expected to play with the team.  

Well, Murray did it again.  Ducks GM Bob Murray made another trade with Toronto and his former boss, Toronto GM Brian Burke.  

This time Murray sent winger Joffrey Lupul to Canada, along with top defensive prospect, Jake Gardiner, and a conditional fourth round draft pick in 2013 in exchange for defenseman Francois Beauchemin.   Beauchemin first came to the Ducks in 2005 from Columbus in the Sergei Fedorov trade.  While the other part of the trade, Tyler Wright, has long since vanished to obscurity, Beauchemin was a key part of the Ducks defense for several years, including the Stanley Cup winning team in 2007.

Despite coming back from an ACL injury in fall of 2008, the Ducks let Beauchemin go as a free agent, with Murray claiming at the time that he was too expensive to sign.  Murray never even offered him a deal and Beauchemin signed with the Maple Leafs. 

Now Murray seems to value what he lost in Beauchemin, but rather than having kept him in an Anaheim uniform all along, now the price is a lot steeper.

While Lupul has not been stellar since returning from back surgery that kept him out of the line up for a year, he has provided depth scoring and experience up front.   Gardiner is a top ranked defensive prospect who is currently playing at the University of Wisconsin and much is expected from him in the future.  

In many ways the short term benefits of this deal could be outweighed by the extremely high long term costs.  It was an awful lot to give up for a single player with just one more year on his contract.  Especially when you now have nine defensemen on your roster.   

What does one do with nine defensemen? 

Toni Lydman, Lubomir Visnovsky, Cam Fowler, Andreas Lilja, Andy Sutton, Luca Sbisa, Paul Mara, Sheldon Brookbank and now Beauchemin.  Mara and Brookbank are already seeing enough time in the press box as healthy scratches.  Mara was brought in when Lydman missed the first part of the season with double vision.  Lilja was brought in when Sutton broke his finger in the first game of the season.  Now that everyone is healthy, something has to give. 

Murray could not have sent an extra d-man in place of a top prospect?  Does Burke have compromising pictures of Murray that would help explain some of the logic behind this deal?  

On the plus side, there should be no transition time for Beauchemin, who is quite familiar with coach Randy Carlyle and his system.   And Lupul's contract has two years remaining, so that is a significant savings in terms of the salary cap.

Ducks fans seem torn on this one.  Happy to have Beauchemin back, but unhappy at the price paid to do so.  As with all deals, hindsight will prove 20/20 as to whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. 

There might be time off between games, but it is never quiet in Ducks land.

Jonas Hiller has officially been put on IR, retroactive to February 3.  Hiller had a horrible beginning to last Wednesday's game against the Sharks.  He let in three goals in the first 11 minutes and was promptly shown the bench in favor of Curtis McElhinney.  Hiller admitted he did not feel quite right and missed the next few days of practice and did not play against Colorado on Saturday.

Hiller reported continued fatigue and lightheadedness, and did not practice again until Tuesday with the team. 

"It was all right," Hiller reported after practice.  "It was different. It still doesn’t feel 100 percent, but it was good to be back on the ice.  I’m still not quite there.  I’m definitely feeling better. I still feel a little off, but I really hope it’s not going to get worse tonight and we can go forward from here."

While it was hoped the Hiller would be available on Wednesday against Vancouver, the last thing you want is a goaltender having that loopy, spacy feeling in net. 

IR requires a minimum absence of one week, so Hiller will remain out until at least Thursday with his next available game to be Friday in Calgary. 

"Obviously, we’re going to make sure that he feels 110 percent," said coach Randy Carlyle.  "It seems like now he’s on his way to recovery."

In the interim, Timo Pielmeier has been called up to back up McElhinney.  Pielmeier also joined the team for the Colorado game before being sent back down again to the ECHL. 

McElhinney earned a shut out in Colorado, and if he continues on a roll, Hiller and the Ducks have nothing to worry about while Hiller is less than 100%. 

In other goaltending news,  the Ducks have signed Ray Emery to a two-way contract.  Emery had to clear waivers before being sent down to Syracuse. 

Emery, 28, has not played any hockey since having hip surgery in April 2010. 

“Ray Emery has been a solid NHL netminder for several years and is only 28 years old,” said Ducks GM Bob Murray. “We are going to give him a chance to go to Syracuse and establish himself again. He’s worked hard to get back into shape and we are looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

Emery has not had a quiet, unassuming career to this point.  He spent his first seasons with the Ottawa Senators, and most notably was in net when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in June 2007.  By next June the Senators waived hiim and bought out his contract, having long since tired with his antics both on and off the ice.

The antics included a three game suspension for high sticking Maxim Lapierre in the face during a game.  (Yes, the same Lapierre who now wears a Ducks uniform.)  He's been in not one, but two fights in the same game.  He's shown up late to practices.  He's fought with teammates in practice.  He's had controversial mask artwork. 

One can only hope he has matured since then.  Certainly he has had enough time off recovering from serious surgery to contemplate his past behaviour.

"I’m really excited to be back," said a seemingly more humble Emery.  "I definitely appreciate things more. I appreciate my body more, knowing that it’s not always going to be there for me and having that scare of thinking I might have played my last game.”

How long Emery will be in Syracuse is unknown, but he will need some time to get back into game shape.  He does add depth to the Ducks roster, though.

In other notes:  Aaron Voros was placed on waivers to make room for Ryan Getzlaf who will be coming off IR and playing on Wednesday night in Vancouver.

Wha?  Huh?  Oh!  Is it time to wake up?  I think I took a nap during the Ducks and Sharks game on Wednesday.  Problem was, the Ducks took a nap, too, and lost 4-3.  By the time they woke up, Jonas Hiller was chased out of the net after letting in three goals on 10 shots.  

Facing Colorado on the road, the Ducks actually started the game in an awake state.  Amazing how that will go a long way to winning a game. 

Hiller has been feeling fatigued and light-headed (Ducks fans weren't feeling any better after Wednesday's effort), so he has been excused from his usual goaltending duties.  Timo Pielmeier was called to back up Curtis McElhinney, but there was no need to call on the back up in this game. 

McElhinney stopped all 25 shots for his second shut out of the season.  The second shut out of the season is a bit more impressive considering that those represent two of his four wins this season.   He might not get many opportunities in net, or be put into ideal situations, but when he is, he performs very well for the Ducks.  

The star of the show was Corey Perry.   With his second hat trick of the season (and his career), Perry made sure the puck got in the net.  He sealed the victory for the Ducks with an empty net goal at the end, but he could easily have had the hat trick earlier in the game with eight shots on goal and another five that either missed or were blocked by the Avalanche.

The Avalanche shot themselves in the foot by taking so many penalties in the game, five of six coming in the first period alone.  Perry broke the scoreless tie at 13:51 on the Ducks second power play. 

While unable to convert on a 5 on 3 at the end of the period, the Ducks were able to make it 2-0 at 1:53 of the second.  The Avs, who were much more disciplined after that, could not get anything past McElhinney. 

When Peter Budaj was pulled for the extra attacker late in the third period, the Avs still had a good chance of tying up the game.  The empty net goal to complete the hat trick at 19:42 sucked that possibility right out the door. The Ducks had not shut out the Avs since 2003.

The dads who were on the annual father-son road trip were certainly happy with the outcome.  The Ducks were happy with the outcome.  Coach Randy Carlyle had to be happier with the outcome (although is he ever really truly pleased?)

And so erasing a lousy and self-described "lethargic" effort on Wednesday, the Ducks start their four game road trip on the right foot with a win. 

Next up?  Oh Canada.  With tilts in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.   As long as they are awake for those matches, they should be fine.

In other notes:  Ryan Getzlaf was cleared for contact and could play on Wednesday in Vancouver, if ready.   Hiller remains day to day, but is likely to be ready to go on Wednesday as well.  If not, McElhinney is not a bad option for the Ducks.

The All Star Break is over.  Corey Perry, Jonas Hiller and Cam Fowler represented themselves at the All-Star festivities well.  Hiller had the best save percentage of all six goaltenders, which is saying a lot in a game that had 21 goals, and was hit in the head with a puck (what else is new).  Perry won the elimination shootout in the skills competition and was not chosen last in the draft.  Fowler came back with souvenirs and great memories. 

But now it is back to work.  The fun and games and rest are over and now the real test starts.

The Ducks got back to practice on Monday and were joined by Ryan Getzlaf, who had missed the previous month with fractured nasal passages.  He has had to don a visor in order to practice with the team, to prevent further damage.  However, Getzlaf still remains wishy washy about whether or not he'll keep it on after all is well.  Clearly the impact of the puck on his face has affected his ability to think wisely.   Getzlaf will remain out this week and is aiming to return to games next week when the Ducks head to western Canada on a road trip.

While most of the Ducks had rest and relaxation, Dan Sexton added more frequent flyer miles to his total.  He and Matt Beleskey were sent back to Syracuse during the break.  Sexton was the only one recalled again because Aaron Voros was taken off IR and rejoined the team at practice. 

Voros who?  Voros has played a whopping 11 games with the Ducks this season.  After a miserable bout of the flu after Thanksgiving put him on the IR, he was able to play one game before exiting the roster once again after 1:25 of playing time.  This time it was a fractured orbital bone and he has been missing in action since.  It is a safe bet that he will still be wearing a suit on game day, this time as a healthy scratch.

So now the Ducks head into their final 30 games.  16 of those are at home, including the game against San Jose tonight, the 100th time the teams have met.  14 of the final 30 games are on the road.  Anaheim went 8-3-1 in the month of January, and want to keep that momentum going.

If specialty teams remain strong, that will go a long way to earning two points every night.  The Ducks are 13 for 27 on the power play in the last nine games, which is a ridiculous 48.1% rate.  At 24.4% on the season, the Ducks have the second best power play in the NHL.  Penalty killing has been excellent of late, too, with the Ducks killing 40 of 45 penalties in the past 13 games.