NHL Image of the Night- December 19th

Ales Hemsky of the Edmonton Oilers collides with the Anaheim Ducks' goalie, Jonas Hiller. Hiller made 51 saves and the Ducks won in the shootout, 3-2 (1-0). Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

Post-Game: Capitals @ Ducks

The Capitals win a wild one out west by the score of 6-4 thanks in part to Alex Ovechkin's fourth career four-point night.

The win came with a cost: Mike Green was knocked out of the game by a huge hit via Chris Pronger (surprisingly without an elbowing penalty). Green skated only five minutes, but picked up a goal and an assist in his limited ice time.

The Ducks continued to take penalties that resulted in three Washington goals off nine attempts. Anaheim was able to convert one goal on five opportunities. Overall, there were 20 infractions on the night.

Washington scored three goals in the first frame for the third time this season, and have scored three or more goals for seven straight games (6-0-1).

It's getting late, so I am going to keep it short, but here are a few other notes:

• Bobby Ryan scored his first and second goal of the year (two games played). He finished with three points (+2) and a TOI of 16ish.
• Jonas Hiller was yanked after six shots, giving up three goals in the first seven minutes. J.S. Gigure replaced him and made 25/27 saves.
• Yesterday I had a cool stat about Ryan Getzlaf...Good news for the Capitals is that Anaheim is now 51-5-4 when Getzlaf has a multi-point game. He finished with one goal and one assist.
• Alex Ovechkin took a spear in the baby-maker from Steve Montador in the third period, but he recovered. The spear looked Briere-like.
  
• David Steckel had just his second career game with more than one point. Stecks put up five SOG (one goal, one assist) in 14 minutes on the ice. Eric Fehr also played well, registering four shots in nine minutes.
• The Capitals are now 19-0-1 in the past two seasons when either Donald Brashear, Boyd Gordon (one assist), or Matt Bradley (one goal) score a goal.
  

Up next is Los Angeles who plans to start Swedish netminder, Erik Ersberg who has never faced the Capitals before.

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Ducks

Washington returns to Anaheim for the first time since Alex Ovechkin recorded his first career hat trick and led the Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the "Mighty Ducks" in 2006. The teams have only met once since then, with Anaheim blowing out the Washington 6-1 at the Verizon Center.

Anaheim (10-7-2) is 6-2-2 in their last 10, but just 1-2-1 on their current five-game home stand. Their only win came against their rival to the north, the Los Angeles Kings. Rookie goalie, Jonas Hiller recorded his first NHL shutout in the Ducks' 2-0 win. Hiller is now 3-1-1/2.18/.926 on the year.

The Ducks have uncharacteristically struggled at home where they are 5-5-2. They have already lost more than half of the home games they lost all of last year when they went 28-9-4 and led the league in victories at home.

The Capitals should press in the 1st period, and when they score first, Washington is 6-2-2. In addition, the Ducks are just 1-5 when trailing first. It's going to be tough keeping Anaheim scoreless seeing how they are in the top six in the league for goals in the first period and goals for in the second period.

Anaheim is statistically the most undisciplined team in the NHL, committing 146 penalties, 11 more than the closest team. That, added with the fact that they are tied for the most goals conceded on the power play, should work well for Washington who is in the middle of the pack for the power play away from home.

News and Notes

Alex Semin will miss tonight's game...Joining him on the sideline will be former Duck, Sergei Fedorov and 'D' man, Shaone Morrisonn.

On Anaheim's end, Bobby Ryan was recently called up from the AHL's Iowa Chops. Ryan had 10 goals in 14 games for the Chops before the call-up and put up 10 points in 23 games for Anaheim last season.

Washington Capitals Preview

Anaheim Ducks Preview

Cool Ryan Getzlaf Fact

Anaheim Ducks Center Ryan Getzlaf is off to the best season of his young career, having already put up 22 points in 18 games, good for fifth in the league.

Getzlaf was drafted 19th overall in the 2003 NHL Draft and broke into the league in 2005.

Since the start of his career, the Ducks are 51-4-4 when Getzlaf has a multi-point game.

That stat alone should be motivation for Capitals defenders to shutdown the Ducks' main man.

NHL Image of the Night- November 7th

Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks gets air-born trying to pass Nicklas Grossman of the Dallas Stars.  Dallas won the game 5-2.  Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

NHL Image of the Night- October 31st

Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates a third period goal against the Vancouver Canucks. Perry finished with one goal and four assists as the Ducks fell to Vancouver in the 13th round of the shootout, 7-6. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.