Cullen Contributes, Earns a Promotion

Matt Cullen, a rookie center, learned his lesson after his demotion Jan. 5 to Cincinnati of the American Hockey League.

“I think I was satisfied just to be here [in the NHL] rather than concentrating on making things happen. It won’t happen again,” said Cullen, who had eight assists in 27 games before being sent to the minors.

“It was good, I guess. It was good to play again and contribute. I got some opportunities offensively. It was fun to get into scoring goals again.”

Cullen made the most of his chance to impress management by scoring 11 goals in seven games with Cincinnati.

General Manager Jack Ferreira recalled Cullen on Tuesday and he responded by scoring his first NHL goal in the third period Wednesday against the Florida Panthers.

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Winger Warren Rychel remains concerned the Ducks will trade him because he expressed his unhappiness over not playing in several games recently.

“I’d like to stay here,” he said. “Some things were mentioned, but there are no hard feelings. I’d like to stay, but I know I have no control over it. Hopefully, nothing will happen. No one likes to see anyone get traded.

“We’re a pretty close team.”

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Coach Pierre Page waited until after the warmup to add defenseman Dan Trebil to the lineup. Trebil had been sidelined by a broken right thumb since Dec. 10.

“We want to be sure he’s able to shoot the puck and move it out of our own end,” Page said before the game.

Trebil didn’t appear to have any difficulties during the warmup or in the game.

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The Ducks’ four goals in the first period were the most they had scored in a period since they scored four in the first period April 11 against the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks rallied with three goals in the second period to make a game of it, but the Ducks held on, 4-3, to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

TONIGHT at Colorado

* 6 PST

* Channel 9

Site--McNichols Arena.

Radio--KRLA 1110, KCKC 1350, KPLS 830.

Records--Ducks 16-25-8, Avalanche 24-10-16.d

Record vs. Avalanche--0-1.

Update--The schedule-makers didn’t do either team a favor to start the season’s stretch run. The Ducks played host to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday and the Avalanche played in Dallas. Colorado, first in the Pacific Division, won the first of five games against the Ducks this season, 2-0, Jan. 14 at Anaheim. Tonight’s game could feature backup goaltenders Mikhail Shtalenkov of the Ducks and Craig Billington of Colorado since Guy Hebert and Patrick Roy started Wednesday.