Winless Ducks Suffer Fourth Consecutive Loss To Start Season
ANAHEIM (AP) — Reto Berra made 35 saves for his second career shutout and Nathan MacKinnon scored in the opening minute of the Colorado Avalanche's 3-0 victory over the winless Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
Jack Skille also scored for the Avalanche, who dominated their road opener against the three-time defending Pacific Division champions. The Ducks fell to 0-3-1 with just one goal all season.
Berra became the third goalie to shut out the Ducks this season, making several big saves. It was the Swiss netminder's 52nd NHL game.
Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots for the Ducks, who haven't scored in more than 163 minutes since Sami Vatanen got their only goal against Vancouver on Monday. Anaheim finished one game short of the Stanley Cup Final last season.
John Mitchell added an empty-net goal for the Avalanche.
The Ducks' problems have been numerous, including 91 straight shots without a goal and a power play that's 0 for 11, but the most surprising aspect is four scoreless games from Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Anaheim, a popular pick to win the Stanley Cup title, hadn't lost four straight games to start a season since 2008-09.
Colorado defenseman Francois Beauchemin received cheers and a few boos when he returned to Anaheim, his home for parts of nine of his first 10 NHL seasons. The Ducks gave him a brief scoreboard tribute in the second period, and Beauchemin acknowledged the cheers with a wave.
Beauchemin won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. He left for a 1 1/2-year stint in Toronto, but returned after and was with the team through its recent run of division titles. He left the club in free agency last offseason when general manager Bob Murray apparently wouldn't meet his desire for a three-year contract. Anaheim acquired Kevin Bieksa from Vancouver to fill the role.
Anaheim fans hadn't even settled in their seats before their team trailed again. MacKinnon flung an innocent-looking shot at the net 53 seconds in, and it somehow squeaked through Andersen for MacKinnon's second goal of the season.
After the Avalanche trapped Anaheim's fourth line in its own end for a long stretch in the second period, Skille's long shot deflected off Tim Jackman's stick and wobbled past Andersen for his first goal since Feb. 9 with Columbus.
Anaheim pulled Andersen for a 6-on-4 power play late after Erik Johnson sent Perry face-first into the boards, but Mitchell scored easily after it ended.
NOTES: The Ducks unveiled their new third jerseys. The bright-orange sweater features the franchise's original goalie-mask-with-a-duck-bill Mighty Ducks crest, with the current crest on the shoulders and the current jerseys' letters and numerals. Anaheim added orange as a primary color when Henry and Susan Samueli bought the team from Disney to emphasize its Orange County roots. ... Anaheim D Simon Despres incurred an upper-body injury before the third period. He appeared to get hit in the head on a check by Tyson Barrie.
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