Ducks still jockeying for Western playoff position
Miller notches 44th shutout as Anaheim pulls within three points of the Wild.
DUCKS 4 MINNESOTA 0
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Even after a rough few months, the Ducks are still among the teams jockeying for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
Ryan Miller made 31 saves for his 44th shutout as the Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 Tuesday night for their third win in four games. Jakob Silfverberg, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler and Hampus Lindholm scored to help the Ducks pull three points behind the Wild for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
The Ducks’ newfound confidence comes after the team lost seven in a row and eight of nine.
“I think when you stick together through a time like we went through, you come out of it on the other side a closer team and a better team because of it,” Kesler said.
Miller got his second win in two starts since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for 24 games. His latest came two days after he set the all-time wins record for a U.S.-born goalie with a victory over Washington. He now has 376 for his career.
Devan Dubnyk finished with 20 saves in Minnesota’s fifth straight loss. The Wild have been shut out in consecutive games for the first time all season and haven’t scored in the last 156 minutes.
“It’s obviously frustrating. We need to find ways to score goals,” Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. “You can’t win games if you don’t score goals.”
The Wild remained one point ahead of Chicago, Vancouver and Colorado, with Arizona tied with the Ducks two more points back.
The Ducks took advantage of the first penalty of the game with a power-play goal early in the second. Silfverberg managed to find the loose puck in front of Dubnyk and got his 16th goal at 4:22.
The play was set up by a backhand from Devin Shore. Dubnyk made the initial save but couldn’t corral the rebound. A scrum in front of the net ensued before Silfverberg put it in.
The Ducks’ penalty kill was tested in the third. They were called for three penalties but managed to kill off all three.
Minnesota had the manadvantage for six minutes in just under a nine-minute span in the period but couldn’t score.