Ducks Win Fourth in Row

All the bounces seemed to go against a Mighty Duck team that couldn’t get a break during its eight-game losing streak last month. Now they’re starting to see things even out.

The Ducks won their fourth in a row on their five-game homestand Saturday night. Andy McDonald netted the game-winner on a broken play with 4 minutes 29 seconds remaining in a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers at the Pond.

McDonald got his ninth goal of the season when he slid a slot between the pads of Atlanta goalie Michael Garnett after getting control of the puck in a scramble in front of the net.

“I don’t know how it got by him,” said McDonald, who extended his point-scoring streak to seven games. “Maybe it fooled him a little bit.”

The Ducks (12-11-4) had another strong defensive effort, this time against the high-scoring Thrashers. They killed all four short-manned situations and limited Atlanta to 21 shots.

“We have been working hard,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We haven’t cheated in any area and I thought our players were rewarded for that.”

Even with Jean-Sebastien Giguere available, Ilya Bryzgalov got the start for the Ducks and won his fourth consecutive game. The rookie goalie protected the lead with a point-blank stop on Jim Slater with 2 minutes 19 seconds remaining.

Bryzgalov delivered again late in the second period after forward Tyler Wright drew a double-minor for high sticking. He foiled Marian Hossa on a slap shot and easily pushed aside a wrist shot from Ilya Kovalchuk as the Ducks killed off the four-minute penalty.

After killing another penalty to start the third period, the Ducks had their chances to expand on their slim lead. Chris Kunitz banged a slap shot off the left post and McDonald missed wide off a pass from Teemu Selanne on a two-on-one break.

“I think we had some quality chances so it’s not like we didn’t have a chance to win,” McDonald said. “Teemu gave me a great pass early in the period and I missed so it was nice get that one.”

The Thrashers were hurt by the absence of veteran forward Peter Bondra, who was carried off the ice with 7:33 remaining in the second. He suffered a strained groin while fighting Duck defenseman Ruslan Salei for the puck. Bondra was sent back home to Atlanta.

The Thrashers tied the game at 13:06 of the third period when the unheralded Brad Larsen got his first goal of the season after Ronald Petrovicky won the puck along the boards and sent a pass into the slot.

Joffrey Lupul gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead when he scored his 11th goal of the season midway through the second period. Lupul has scored in three consecutive games after going the previous nine without a goal.