Silfverberg scored twice as Ducks wreck Rangers
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jakob Silfverberg is quickly getting comfortable in his new home.
Silfverberg scored two goals as the Anaheim Ducks blitzed the New York Rangers 6-0 Thursday night before a sellout crowd of 17,179 in the home opener at Honda Center.
Silfverberg was the main piece of an offseason trade that sent Bobby Ryan to the Ottawa Senators. In four games, Silfverberg has a club-high four goals and five points.
"We've been playing great as a team, and I've been fortunate to put in some goals, and that always helps," said Silfverberg, who became only the third Duck to score four in the opening four contests, joining Teemu Selanne (1995-96) and Daniel Winnik (2012-13). "I've been fortunate to play with two great players, Mathieu (Perreault) and Teemu. For me, it's just trying to find open spots."
The Rangers (1-3-0) were clobbered for the second game in row. They lost 9-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
"Obviously, we're not playing very well now, and there are probably a lot of theories as to why we are not playing the way we should be playing," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "But our reality is really quite simple. We are going to get up tomorrow morning and we are going to go back to work."
The Ducks (3-1-0) captured their third consecutive win after opening the season with a 6-1 setback to the Avalanche in Colorado. Thursday's final score represented their largest margin of victory in an Anaheim home opener.
"We can't get satisfied," said Silfverberg, who registered his second career multi-goal game, the other one occurring against the Winnipeg Jets last season. "We've got to keep pushing harder every day and trying to get better."
Jonas Hiller stopped 34 shots for his 17th career shutout.
"The first period was great, and we were playing most of the time in their zone," Hiller said. "I don't think it could get any better for a home opener. We knew we had to push, and we wanted to pressure them. We wanted to be right on top of them, and that's what we did.
"I had a good seat for an exciting game."
Ryan Getzlaf got the Ducks rolling early, scoring at 5:06 of the first period. The Anaheim captain converted a pass in front of the net from Corey Perry for his first goal of the season.
The Ducks struck again four minutes later when Silfverberg scored on assists from the 43-year-old Selanne and Perreault, who each finished with two assists.
Winnik made it 3-0 with a wrist shot from behind the circle at 11:36 of the first.
"I don't have an explanation for what happened in the first period," Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. "I thought our effort was a little bit better but still not where it needs to be."
Silfverberg scored his second goal at 1:27 of the second when he corralled a rebound and ripped a shot into an empty net moments after goalie Henrik Lundqvist vacated it and chased the loose puck and failed to retrieve it in time.
Anaheim added two more goals in the second by Saku Koivu and Dustin Penner. Penner later left the game with a lower-body injury.
The Ducks were simply quicker and much more active than the Rangers from the start. They outshot the Rangers 17-3 in the opening period and dominated the rest of the way.
Lundqvist finished with 31 saves.
NOTES: Anaheim C Nick Bonino left the game with a lower body injury. His status for Sunday's game against the Ottawa Senators was unknown. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash missed the game with a concussion. Nash took an elbow to the head from San Jose D Brad Stuart in Tuesday's rout by the Sharks. Nash is also expected to miss Saturday's contest against the Blues in St. Louis. ... Ducks LW Matt Beleskey and RW Kyle Palmieri, both of whom have upper-body injuries, did not play. ... The home opener was the final one for Selanne, who is retiring at the end of the season. Selanne received a rousing ovation during player introductions. ... Thursday's game was the first meeting between the two clubs since the Rangers won a 2-1 shootout in Madison Square Garden on Nov. 3, 2011. It was the teams' first game at Anaheim since a 5-2 Ducks victory on March 9, 2011. ... The Ducks improved to 15-6-5 against the Rangers, 9-2-2 at Honda Center.
