Ducks notch 14th win in last 19 games
The group that seemed to find every kind of way to lose games over the first three months has now done a 180-degree turn.
Little changed initially for the Ducks when they fired longtime coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau, but they're now winning regularly in what is becoming a desperate late push to get back into the playoff picture.
The Ducks won for the 14th time in 19 games with their 2-1 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday, but it was their first victory when trailing after two periods after being 0-21-1 in that regard.
"Maybe it all evens out in the end," Boudreau quipped.
The latest victory saw Jonas Hiller deliver big back-to-back saves on the Wild's Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu early in the third period to keep the Ducks within one goal.
Niklas Hagman and Corey Perry rewarded Hiller's 17-save effort with goals against Josh Harding that would pull the Ducks within three points of 12th-place Minnesota and eight points of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
"Jonas made so many good saves to keep it at 1-0," Boudreau said. "There was two big saves. If they had got that next one, I didn't think there was going to be a chance that we would have got two by him.
"When we tied it up, it gave us some life. We got another one. And then at the end, it was just like a mad scramble."
The Ducks have picked up 31 of a possible 38 points since they began their run on Jan. 6 with a victory against the New York Islanders. Hagman said, "Maybe we realized that we really have to start winning games if we want to continue to play in the playoffs."
Perry said they're playing a simple game these days.
"We're just playing the same way the whole game," Perry said. "We're not trying to do different things and be too cute when we get down. Dump it in, chase, get on the (defensemen), cycle the puck and take it to the net. That's what we've been doing since we've been on this roll."
Next up for the Ducks is a meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
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