The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Zegras is not too impressed with his rookie points record
ANAHEIM » Trevor Zegras was ready. He played with Ryan Getzlaf long enough to know that a cross-ice pass from the left wing was possible at any moment. When it came in the second period Saturday, Zegras accepted it and launched the puck past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick.
Zegras’ goal was the 22nd of his Calder Trophy-caliber season and it was his 58th point, breaking the Ducks’ franchise record for rookies he shared with Bobby Ryan. Zegras pointed at Getzlaf immediately after scoring a power-play goal, thanking his retiring teammate for the assist.
“Not a whole lot to be completely honest,” Zegras said when asked if the record was meaningful to him. “But I think individual records come from good teams, right? I can’t score out there by myself. I’ve played with a lot of good players since I’ve been here. Some are still here and some are gone.
“So, I think it’s kind of a compliment to them.”
Zegras was ready in the third period, too. He had an extended tussle with the Kings’ Carl Gundstrom. Zegras had played enough games this season to expect a physical challenge from an opposing player and he was poised to drop the gloves and exchange punches.
A fight would have been his first on any level of hockey.
“I was ready,” Zegras said. “It felt
Trevor Zegras
like we were wrestling for five minutes.”
Dominik Simon, Zegras’ teammate, interceded and landed a couple of rights to Grundstrom’s face before Grundstrom wrestled him to the ice and the linesmen separated them. Grundstrom was penalized for slashing and roughing. Simon was penalized for roughing.
“Nice that Dom stepped in,” Zegras said.
Asked if he knew what to do in a fight, Zegras said, chuckling, “I’ve got an idea, yeah. Grab the shoulder. Bearhug him. Go down. I don’t know. Just watch ‘Getzy.’ … It’s important to stay together, especially with the position we’re in and how many games we have left. When you see guys sticking up for each other, it’s good to see. That kind of thing resonates.”
Getzlaf stood up for teammate Josh Mahura after the Kings’ Arthur Kaliyev cross-checked Mahura in the back of the head after a confrontation in the closing seconds of the Ducks’ 4-2 loss. Getzlaf avoided a penalty, but Kaliyev was given a fiveminute cross-checking major and a game misconduct.
Mahura was penalized for roughing.
In addition, the NHL on Sunday fined Kaliyev $2,235.42, the maximum allowable under the current collective bargaining agreement, for cross checking Mahura. Neither Mahura nor Getzlaf received supplementary discipline from the league’s department of player safety for their roles.
Grant injured
Derek Grant, who had been playing on a line with Zegras and Gerry Mayhew, suffered an unspecified upper-body injury during Saturday’s game and could not return to the game. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to Grant, who played only five shifts over 3:02 of ice time.
“It’s not good,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.
Grant sat out Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. The Ducks were already without Sam Carrick, Jakob Silfverberg and Max Jones because of injuries. Grant’s availability for the Ducks’ final regular-season games Tuesday at San Jose and Friday at Dallas was uncertain.