ANAHEIM — General Manager Bob Murray’s offseason moves prompted two reactions from Ducks fans this past summer: Groans and yawns. He didn’t sign a big-name free agent despite having plenty of spending money and he didn’t complete a trade that might speed his rebuilding efforts.
Murray did make three moves that have paid dividends to start the 2021-22 season, and they were clear for all to see once again during the Ducks’ 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at Honda Center. All three signings were predictable and necessary.
It all had to do with the Ducks’ historically bad power play last season, the worst since the NHL began keeping track of man-advantage efficiency in 1967-68. The Ducks’ 8.9 percent success rate was one of the many reasons they nose-dived toward the bottom of the standings.
So, Murray hired Geoff Ward and Newell Brown to be assistant coaches on coach Dallas Eakins’ staff. Ward and Brown brought experience in running power plays, and Brown was back for his third stint behind the Ducks’ bench, having worked for Craig Hartsburg and Randy Carlyle.
Murray also re-signed Ryan Getzlaf to a one-year contract worth $4.5 million, betting on the Ducks’ longtime captain as much as the 36-year-old center was betting on the Ducks. No one wanted a repeat of last season’s 17-30-9 record and second-to-last finishing in the overall standings.
“In the end, when you look at our lineup, every name is the same,” Eakins said. “It’s not like we brought in some power-play guys or some penalty-kill guys or anything like that. We’re running with our same group. The feel, the culture, the attitude of everything around the team, it’s like we replaced a whole bunch of players, but we haven’t.”
If the season’s first 11 games are any indication, Murray got it right with his hires and his signing. Could he have done more? Sure, but there’s no question that the Ducks, and especially their power play, are better off with Ward and Brown assisting Eakins and Getzlaf playing a 17th season.
The Ducks scored two power-play goals for the second consecutive game Tuesday, with Getzlaf scoring one in the first period and setting up another in the second, and raised their total for 2021-22 to 10 in 38 chances. And to think, they were a woeful 11 for 123 last season.
Getzlaf had one goal and two assists to move within eight points of the 1,000-point milestone. He broke Teemu Selanne’s franchise record of 988 points on Sunday with an assist in the Ducks’ 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. He went right back to work Tuesday against the Devils.
“I think it was taking too long to pass him,” Ducks goalie John Gibson said of Getzlaf’s pursuit of Selanne’s team scoring record. “And now he’s in a hurry to get to 1,000. It’s good to see and, hopefully, he gets there very quickly.”
During a first-period power play, Getzlaf sent a slap shot past New Jersey goaltender Jonathan Bernier for his first goal of the season, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 12:05. During a second-period power play, he assisted on Troy Terry’s one-timed shot past Bernier for a 2-0 lead at 3:48.
Terry then scored an even-strength goal to make it 3-0 only 3:38 into the third period. He extended his scoring streak to nine consecutive games, the longest in the NHL this season. Terry has seven goals and five assists during his streak, which also includes a four-game goal-scoring streak.
Isac Lundestrom added a short-handed goal to extend the Ducks’ lead to 4-0 at 7:19 of the final period. The only questions remaining at that point were whether Terry would get a third goal and whether John Gibson would record his first shutout of the season and the 23rd of his career.
Terry didn’t score again; Gibson stopped all 28 shots he faced.
“Especially as a defenseman, it’s a major focus,” Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said of preserving Gibson’s shutout in the closing minutes of the game. “You don’t say that word on the bench. You don’t say the S-word on the bench. I think at that point, you feel like you have the game pretty much sealed up. That’s the most important thing. Really, what it comes down to is everyone sticking with the program and not chasing points and doing stuff that’s out of character.”