Sprong, Getzlaf lead Ducks past Devils 6-5 in shootout
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Three Anaheim goals in regulation deflected in off opposing players. When the game went to a shootout and New Jersey's Taylor Hall had a chance to tie it, his shot ricocheted off the crossbar.
That left an opening for Ryan Getzlaf, who followed Daniel Sprong's earlier goal in the shootout with a nifty wrist shot to give the Ducks a wild 6-5 victory Sunday over the Devils.
"It was a bizarre game," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "It was one of those games that seemed like the last shot would win it."
The Ducks have won six of their last seven, though none quite equaled Sunday's bizarre victory.
Jakob Silfverberg, Kiefer Sherwood, Brandon Montour, Pontus Aberg and Ondrej Kase scored in regulation for the Ducks. The goals by Sherwood, Aberg and Kase all went off New Jersey players. Kase's goal was actually knocked in by Andy Greene when he swung his stick attempting to bat it away from the net.
"It was the first time in my experience where you had three that went in," Devils coach John Hynes said. "Something gets deflected in, and hits someone and goes in. Those were a little bit odd tonight."
Kyle Palmieri had two goals for the Devils, and Damon Severson, Brent Seney and Marcus Johansson also scored. Cory Schneider stopped 33 shots.
The Devils snapped a six-game losing streak in their last outing, but have now lost seven of eight.
The Ducks started the shootout, but Aberg's shot was blocked by Schneider. John Gibson then blocked Palmieri, before Sprong — in his first career shootout attempt — sliced a backhand past Schneider.
When Palmieri's shot went off the crossbar, Getzlaf's goal provided the game-winner.
"Our guys did a good job of sticking with things," Getzlaf said. "When you get a few bounces, it's big. We didn't get any of those the first two months of the season."
Anaheim's Ryan Miller, looking to become the all-time leader in U.S.-born goaltender wins, left the game with 12:47 left in the third period after a pair of players crashed into him at the net. He appeared to have injured his left leg. Gibson was in goal the rest of the night.
The night began with a wild opening period as both teams scored three times. Three of the goals were scored within 59 seconds.
Palmieri opened the scoring, snapping in a rebound past Miller just 1:38 into the game.
The Ducks answered quickly, a screened Silfverberg firing from long distance to tie it. Sherwood gave Anaheim a brief lead when he completed a breakaway, his shot deflecting off the leg of Stefan Noesen in front of the crease and into the net.
New Jersey tied it at 2-2 on Palmieri's second goal of the period, wristing in a quick shot on a feed from Taylor Hall behind the net.
The Devils went back up on Severson's power-play goal, but the Ducks tied it again on Montour's goal to end the high-scoring period.
"That first period was a little helter-skelter," Schneider said. "Both sides (played) a littler looser. You come out of it 3-3, it's basically a 0-0 hockey game. ... You have that mentality of starting over. I thought we did a good job in the second and took control of the game. The Ducks made a push in the third."
New Jersey led 4-3 in the third when Aberg fired a long, blind, backhanded shot that went off the hand of New Jersey's Ben Lovejoy and hopped in the net.
Kase's goal gave Anaheim a 5-4 lead, but the Devils emptied their net and scored after a wild scramble in front of the net with 57.8 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
NOTES: Sunday marked Carlyle's 900th game as an NHL coach. ... The Ducks have won their last five games at home against the Devils. ... Getzlaf is now 27 for 76 in career shootout attempts.
