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Eight more years of Ryan Getzlaf begin tonight. Getzlaf has been much better this year - He's only two goals away from his 82 game total last year (11), and this week in particular he's been OUTSTANDING. Could it all have been because of the contract year? Maybe, but I doubt it. The best season of his career, so far, was the 2008-09 season in which he had 25 goals and 66 assists for 91 points, not to mention 18 points in 13 playoff games. That was the first year of his currently expiring contract.
Whatever you think of his $8.25 million cap hit and what it means for Corey Perry, it has to be a relief that the Ducks aren't going to lose everyone this summer.
As for tonight, the Ducks face a Calgary Flames team that has won it's last two games, 4-1 and 4-2 over San Jose and Vancouver respectively, and sit 12th in the West, four points out of eighth.
On Wednesday, Miikka Kiprusoff returned to the Flames' net, after missing 13 games with a knee injury, and earned his 300th career win. We all know how great a goalie Kipper can be but, similar to Jonas Hiller, his numbers don't show it this season. Kiprusoff and Hiller have very comparable numbers on the season, .886 Sv%, 2.95 GAA vs .896 and 2.93 respectively, until it comes to their records (3-3-2 vs. 7-2-2) indicating that Hiller has had A LOT more support.
Interestingly however, it appears as if Bruce Boudreau will go with Viktor Fasth tonight despite Hiller's routine shutout against Phoenix on Wednesday.
Oh, by the way, Viktor Fasth going tonight the Ducks in goal.
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) March 8, 2013
On the other side of the puck for Calgary, right now it is all about everyone's favorite Flame: Lanny McDonald Hakan Loob Jarome Iginla. The Calgary captain is currently riding a three game goal streak and has six goals, seven points in his last five games. Maybe we'll get lucky, someone will be able to pull a Beauch and take Iggy off the ice for five minutes. I can't say that I'd like it to be Iggy/Beauch Round Three though.
The Ducks have won their last 15 games against Calgary in Anaheim dating all the way back to Jan. 19, 2004, the longest home winning streak against a single opponent in franchise history. Magumbo willing, we'll keep it going against their future division rival and maintain the seven point buffer zone above the rest of the West (minus Chicago, of course).