Ducks defeat Senators for fourth straight win
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Corey Perry says the game plan was to crank up the pressure early. With Perry leading the charge, the Anaheim Ducks never relented against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Perry scored twice as the Ducks coasted to a 4-1 victory Sunday over the Ottawa Senators before a sellout crowd of 17,177 at Honda Center.
In winning their fourth in a row, the Ducks (4-1) set a club mark for shots on goal with 56, breaking the previous mark of 54 set against the Edmonton Oilers on March 27, 2009.
"I think we passed up a few shots as well," said Perry, who has three goals this season and has scored points in four consecutive games. "That's the way we want to play. Shoot as many pucks at the net as we can. Good things are going to happen when we do that."
The Senators (1-2-2) suffered their second straight setback in less than 24 hours. Ottawa was coming off a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night before losing to the Ducks in a contest that started late Sunday afternoon.
"We knew we had to get on them early, and we did that," Perry said. "We chased the goalie from the net early and that's how we have to play. We play fast, we play quick and shoot a lot of pucks. We're going to do that to teams."
The Ducks chased Ottawa's Craig Anderson four minutes into the contest after the goalie gave up two goals. Robin Lehner, who finished with 45 saves and had 47 in the defeat at San Jose, replaced him, but the damage was already done.
"We're not very good," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said. "We need to go back to square one and find something to hang our hat on. Right now, the only thing we have is goaltenders and we make them work too hard."
The Ducks set the tone early. Patrick Maroon connected on a pass with Corey Perry, who scored in the front of the net, for a 1-0 lead 27 seconds into the game.
Anaheim followed that goal when Ryan Getzlaf rebounded a miss by Hampus Lindholm and slapped it past Anderson for a 2-0 advantage at 4:06 of the first period. That's when MacLean pulled Anderson for Lehner.
The Senators had a glimmer of hope when Bobby Ryan, who was making his first return to Anaheim since being traded in the offseason, scored on a nifty pass from Kyle Turris, cutting the lead to 2-1, with 48 seconds remaining in the first. But Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller, who finished with 30 saves, kept the Senators quiet from that point.
"We were down 2-0 early," said Ryan, who produced his third goal. "If you don't change the way you play against a team like that, that is playing pretty well, you're not going to have any success."
Hiller grinned when asked if he was worried about some good-natured teasing from Ryan later.
"I was down on my knees a little early and didn't see the pass cross," said Hiller, who has won all three of his starts, including a shutout of the New York Rangers on Thursday night. "But other than that, we didn't give them too much. I also think I had some good stops on Bobby, so I can give him a hard time."
Perry troubled Ottawa more than anyone, scoring his second goal when Lindholm, who had two assists, rushed down the right side and found him open near the left circle. The right wing drilled the puck pass Lehner for a 3-1 lead at 3:18 of the second.
Nick Bonino produced an unassisted goal at 15:28 of the period, grabbing the puck after a faceoff with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and slipping it by Lehner to cap the scoring.
NOTES: The Ducks outshot the Senators 11-3 in the initial five minutes and 24-12 in the first period. The 24 shots were a club record for the most in an opening period, surpassing the mark of 23 set against the Detroit Red Wings on March 21, 2004. ... LW Dustin Penner, LW Matt Beleskey and D Mark Fistric were scratches for Anaheim. ... Ottawa's scratches were LW Matt Kassian and D Eric Gryba. ... The Senators will complete their six-game road trip with a visit to Phoenix to play the Coyotes on Tuesday. They will host the New Jersey Devils in their home opener Thursday. ... In celebration of their 20th anniversary season, the Ducks wore purple retro jerseys. ... The franchise recorded its first win exactly 20 years ago Sunday, a 4-3 decision over the Edmonton Oilers behind 28 saves by goalie Ron Tugnutt and a game-winning goal by Bill Houlder.