Ducks Suddenly Flap Their Wings

It might not seem like it, but the Mighty Ducks are on a bit of a roll.

With Friday night’s 2-1 victory against Phoenix, the Ducks improved to 4-3-1-3 in their last 11 games. Not a Stanley Cup-type run, but good enough to send an announced Arrowhead Pond crowd of 10,463 home happy.

“When you have to make up a lot of ground like we have to make up, playing against teams in our division is really important,” Anaheim defenseman Jason York said. “We have to beat these teams. So tonight was a step in the right direction.”

Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere had 30 saves and Paul Kariya and Matt Cullen scored goals to lead the Ducks to their second victory against Phoenix.

“Hopefully our players are starting to realize that we can play these type of teams,” Anaheim Coach Bryan Murray said. “Maybe, we can’t beat the Joe Sakics right now, but we can play with some of these other people. We have to do it the hard way, there’s no question about it, but we have to do it every night.”

Kariya gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal 6:02 into the game. Kariya rebounded his shot, which was poked into the high slot by Sean Burke, and put a backhander past the Phoenix goalie.

The Ducks extended their advantage to 2-0 when Matt Cullen deflected a John Leclerc blue-line shot past Burke at 9:09.

“I got to the net and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I decided to tip it in and go celebrate,” Cullen said of his seventh goal.

For Cullen, it was his third goal in five games since he returned to the lineup. He had been a healthy scratch for three consecutive games because of defensive lapses.

“I didn’t think [being benched] was good for me, but regardless, things have gone a lot better since I’ve been back,” Cullen said. “I’m trying to play harder and improve in every area of my game. But as a player, when you get sat down, it’s really disappointing.

“It’s never something that you think is good. Nor is it something that you ever want to have happen. You take what you can from it, but you’re not happy about it, that’s for sure.”

Murray, however, has been pleased with Cullen’s play since he returned to the lineup.

“Cullen has played with a lots of emotion and enthusiasm,” Murray said before Friday’s game. “He might tell you otherwise, but I see a pretty high energy level at this point in time. [Cullen’s] line has been real competitive the last couple of games.”

Phoenix was able to cut the Ducks’ lead in half when Shane Doan took in a pass from Ladislav Nagy in front of the crease and beat Giguere for his seventh goal with 1:16 remaining in the first period.

Over the next 41 minutes, the Coyotes threw everything they had at the net but were unable to get the puck past Giguere, who has stopped 183 of 192 shots his last six games.

“Just watching them play, I see that they’re getting better,” Murray said of the Ducks’ play in December. “Our defense has been really solid. We’re not giving up very many goals and obviously, Giguere has made some stops the last couple of games. We’re not giving up a lot of scoring chances. We’re very discipline on the most part. I see improvement but we have a long way to go.”