LOS ANGELES — Once his playing days expire, there's a
good career ahead in public relations for Ryan Getzlaf.
The Anaheim Ducks center offered as rosy of an assessment as could be provided
after his team's 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night at Staples
Center.
When asked if the team's lack of a margin for error over the last two months
has begun to wear the team down, Getzlaf offered some prime spin.
"No, we're excited," Getzlaf answered, though the atmosphere in the
locker room shortly after the narrow defeat clearly offered a different
picture.
"We're excited to play every night and excited to get back in this thing,
and working hard to get there,” added Getzlaf, who is on pace for a career-low
mark in goals that would fall short of his 14 rookie-season tallies in 2005-06.
“We lost the special teams battle tonight, and that was the difference in the
hockey game."
As he spoke, roughly 15 stone-faced Ducks sat silently at their stalls, staring
straight ahead as they contemplated the ramifications of a 1-3 week that served
as a major emotional blow to the club's outside chance at making the playoffs.
Looking to become the first team in NHL history to erase a 20-point deficit
before reaching the playoffs — no team had erased more than a 12-point deficit
since conference realignment prior to the 1993-94 season — the Ducks pulled to
within four points of a playoff spot after a 3-2 shootout win in Carolina on
February 23 But since then, the Ducks have been unsuccessful in closing the gap
any further. With 16 games remaining, they're seven points behind eighth-place
Dallas, which has a game in hand. Plus, four teams separate them from the final
playoff berth.
Anaheim's 18-6-4 record since Jan. 4 has been an admirable achievement, but
silver linings don't get teams into the playoffs.
"It's a tough one," Getzlaf said. "You know what, we're pretty
disappointed in this locker room, mostly with our effort. We weren't as good as
we needed to be to play tonight. They came out and played a strong game, and we
didn't respond the way we needed to, especially our special teams."
As composed as Getzlaf has been all season long, coach Bruce Boudreau was as
equally steamed Saturday. Venting frustration over several borderline calls
assessed by referees Dan O'Rourke and Ian Walsh, including a questionable
slashing penalty on Luca Sbisa as he defended Jeff Carter in a one-on-one rush
into the Ducks zone, Boudreau will likely be hearing from the NHL in regards to
his harsh criticism of the way the game was called.
"Our special teams were horrible. We can't kill a penalty and we can't
score a goal on the power play," Boudreau said.
"That being said, they were some of the worst calls that I've seen in a
long time. In a game of this importance, we can't have officiating making calls
like that. There were three penalties that weren't penalties I know of that we
took. Granted, they scored, and probably sour grapes that they scored, but
those things can't happen. It's too important and there is too much at stake
for everybody not coming to do their job, whether it's us guys or whether it's
the other guys over there.
"If we are busting our ass all night long and playing our fifth game in
seven nights, we needed better from them. I don't know what their schedule is,
but if it's four nights in a row or what have you, we can't have that. It's
just bad calls and I haven't paid too much attention to whether [the Kings]
deserved their calls, but I know the calls on Sbisa's slash, (Nick) Bonino's
interference, and (Niklas) Hagman's trip were not penalties; not even close."
O'Rourke, one half of Saturday's referee assignment, had previously asserted in
an Anaheim-Ottawa game in January that Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson
was a "diver", as reported by Ken Warren of Senators Extra.
The Ducks are going to have to forget about any perceived officiating injustice
quickly, regrouping for a home game Monday against Edmonton before a three-game
trip through St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado.
"This is a very tough time for us," defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky
said. "We need more wins. It's hard to say something."
NOTES: Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal since Dec. 8, a
wristshot from the right wing that snuck past Los Angeles goalie Jonathan
Quick. Smith-Pelly returned to the lineup on Feb. 21 after breaking a bone in
his foot while blocking a shot at the World Junior Championships on Dec. 26.
The 19-year old has four goals and seven points in a physical, checking role
for Anaheim and was named the game's third star in Anaheim home wins on Feb. 26
against Chicago and March 2 against Calgary. … Jonas
Hiller made his franchise-record 25th consecutive start. He broke the team's
consecutive starts record in Friday's 3-2 win over Calgary.
… The Ducks were 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Kings were 2-for-4.
… Anaheim fell to 1-2-2 against Los Angeles in this year's Freeway
Faceoff season series. The teams meet for the final time this season on Friday,
March 16 at Honda Center.
