Shutouts Are Stacking Up for Giguere

Life with the Mighty Ducks has never been better than it was Wednesday night in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals in front of an announced crowd of 11,006 at the Arrowhead Pond.

Fredrik Olausson scored the game-winning goal in his 1,000th NHL game. Mike Leclerc played his first game since November. Adam Oates picked up an assist against a franchise for which he played 385 games and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere recorded his second consecutive shutout.

“This was a good win for our team, we’re playing pretty well,” said Olausson, whose team moved six points behind the Dallas Stars for first place in the Pacific Division.

Anaheim not only received a goal from Olausson but also a second-period goal by defenseman Pavel Trnka and a empty-net goal by forward Andy McDonald.

Giguere, who has recorded three shutouts in his last 16 games and has 11 in his career, has not given up a goal since late in the second period against Chicago last Friday.

“Our guys really did a good job in front of him,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said about Giguere, who blanked Nashville on Sunday. “But he was really solid.”

The Ducks completely controlled a struggling Washington team, which has played below .500 for most of the season and recently was criticized by owner Ted Leonis for a poor work ethic.

Giguere, who extended his shutout streak to 140 minutes, 15 seconds, finished with 26 saves against the Capitals, who were scoreless in seven power-play opportunities.

“We did a great job on the [penalty kill] against one of the best teams in the league on the [power play],” said Giguere, who registered the second set of back-to-back shutouts of his career.The first also came against Nashville and Washington, last season.

“They have great skill up front with Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra and Robert Lang.... You have to be patient when you play them and know where everyone is in the zone. I love those types of challenges.”

It’s only fitting that the first goal of the game was scored by Olausson, who became the 63rd defenseman to play in 1,000 NHL games.

With the Ducks on a power play late in the opening period, Leclerc had the puck behind the Washington goal before delivering a pass to Olausson, who was open at the right circle.

From there Olausson scored his second goal in as many games to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 16:24.

“The team has been playing fairly well and I’m very happy with the guys,” said Olausson, the sixth defenseman born outside North America to reach the 1,000-game milestone.

The Ducks’ second goal came on the type of play that always seemed to go against them in the past.

Just before he reached the center red line, Trnka attempted to send the puck into the Washington zone off the left sideboards. That’s when things got a little quirky.

Instead of the puck bouncing harmlessly down the ice, it ricocheted off the wall directly into the Capital net, which was left open by Sebastien Charpentier, who had moved to his right in expectation of the puck coming down the ice in a different direction. The result was a goal for Trnka and a 2-0 lead 5:52 into the second period.

McDonald then finished the scoring for the Ducks when he knocked in an empty-net goal with 39.4 seconds remaining.