New York Rangers had turned aside and the others that hit posts instead
of finding the net, it was only fitting they finally broke through with
a deflection.
Ales Kotalik's power-play goal
snapped a third-period tie, and backup Steve Valiquette made 18 saves
in the Rangers' fourth straight victory, 3-0 over the Anaheim Ducks on
Sunday.
Kotalik fired a shot from the bottom
of the left circle that clipped Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer's
stick and caromed up and over goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, inside the
left post at 2:14.
"We were hitting crossbars, posts,"
said Kotalik, who struck iron twice before scoring. "We stayed with it,
stayed patient and we knew we'd have the strength and conditioning to
win it in the third period. We did it."
New York, 4-0 since a season-opening
loss at Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, earned the victory in Sean
Avery's season debut following a knee injury during training camp.
Avery played his annoying style and goaded Ducks defenseman Ryan
Whitney into a roughing penalty 1:34 into the third, setting up
Kotalik's winning score.
Giguere finished with 35 saves, but had little chance to stop Kotalik's drive.
"It's a tough play," Niedermayer
said. "You try to get in front of shots, but at the same time if you
deflect them by the goalie it's no good, either. It's a tough one the
way Giggy was playing. It was probably better to just let him deal with
it because he played real well."
Valiquette stopped 11 shots in the second period after a quiet start and earned his fourth NHL shutout and 15th career victory.
Little-used forward Artem Anisimov
scored his first NHL goal with 5:38 left during another power play to
make it 2-0, with an assist from Avery. That goal was set up by Evgeny
Artyukhin's 4-minute, high-sticking penalty.
Dan Girardi sealed the win with a short-handed, empty-netter with 1:59 left.
"We are happy with four wins in a
row," Valiquette said, "but we don't want to get too far ahead of
ourselves because we know a pat on the back is only a few feet from a
kick in the butt."
It was a hard-luck loss for the
Ducks, who were playing for the second straight night with starts less
than 24 hours apart. Anaheim rallied from a two-goal deficit in the
third period at Philadelphia on Saturday night and won 3-2 in a
shootout. All the goals, including the lone shootout tally, were scored
by Teemu Selanne. The 39-year-old forward had scored twice in two
consecutive games.
"We didn't execute to our level,"
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "When your hockey club is standing
still making plays, it shows they are a little bit worn down. We played
last night in an emotional comeback. It's hard to recapture that."
Giguere made his second start of the
season while splitting time with Jonas Hiller. The Ducks wrapped up a
four-game road trip 2-1-1, but had their 12-game, road-point streak
snapped (9-0-3).
"It's a tough way to finish a good
road trip," Giguere said. "I don't think we're happy with the game
tonight, but I think we're satisfied with the road trip."
The Rangers dominated on the shot
clock, but failed to generate many early scoring chances and struck the
goal posts several times.
With the Rangers slated to play
three times in four nights, coach John Tortorella gave Valiquette his
first start of the season in place of No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Valiquette was barely tested in the
first period when New York held a 13-1 shots advantage, but he bailed
out teammate Marc Staal in the second. Valiquette stopped Todd
Marchant's hard drive from in close after the defenseman turned over
the puck in the Rangers zone.
Avery was involved in several
scrums, including one at the end of the second period that had
officials separating him and Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf as they traded
verbal jabs.
"Avery has his own agenda out there," Carlyle said. "Some of the things he says to people, you can't believe."
Notes
It was Valiquette's first
shutout since Oct. 17, 2008, against Toronto. … The Ducks begin a
six-game homestand Wednesday vs. Minnesota. … Marchant was helped off
the ice after he slammed into the end boards behind the Rangers net in
the third period. … Anisimov had only 4:16 of ice time in the first
two periods. He scored his first NHL point, an assist, Thursday at
Washington. … LW Aaron Voros was scratched from New York's lineup to
make room for Avery.