They’ve Pulled Plug on Avalanche Power Play

Penalty killing had been one of the Mighty Ducks’ stronger attributes during the regular season, when they ranked 13th out of 30 teams with an 83.7% success rate.

In Games 2 and 3 of their first-round series against the Calgary Flames, the Ducks allowed five power-play goals. But they have been nearly perfect since.

After killing all six Colorado power plays Sunday in a 3-0 Game 2 victory over the Avalanche, the Ducks have killed 23 consecutive penalties and 29 of 30 since allowing three man-advantage goals to the Flames in a Game 3 loss.

Center Samuel Pahlsson said the team wasn’t doing anything drastically different.

“There’s always minor changes but it’s nothing big,” Pahlsson said. “We know they’ve got some really good players that have scored a lot of goals. They have a lot of playoff experience. We have to be sharp all the time.”

Duck center Todd Marchant said killing penalties boiled down to a simple concept.

“There’s no real secret to a good penalty kill,” Marchant said. “It’s hard work. It’s paying a price. Whether it’s taking a check to get a puck all the way down or keep the puck down low so you don’t have a giveaway. Or a blocked shot.”

Marchant credited the play of rookie goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who has three consecutive shutouts.

“The best [penalty killer] is your goalie and he’s certainly been very good as of late,” Marchant said. “Our group has been good as of late. But we’ve got a long way to go.”

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While Bryzgalov has been untouchable in goal in the first two games, Avalanche players have been quick to place more credit on the Duck defense in front of him.

“We’ve got to test Bryzgalov more than we did here,” Colorado winger Milan Hejduk said. “You don’t know how well he’s playing right now. It’s not like we had a lot of scoring chances.

“He made some good stops. Their defense is playing real well right now. It doesn’t seem like there’s much room in their zone right now.”

Defenseman Rob Blake said the Avalanche has to send more bodies to the net.

“You have to create those scoring chances and that’s the thing I don’t think we’re doing right now,” Blake said. “The shots from the point aren’t getting through on a regular basis like they were. I think we’re taking lanes on the outside instead of the inside to get the bodies in front.”

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Bryzgalov said the last time he had three shutouts in a row was when he played for the Russian junior team. Duck Coach Randy Carlyle has offered many words of advice for his young goalie.

“I say, ‘Come to practice. Stop the puck. Smile. Have a good day,’ ” Carlyle joked.

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Rookie forward Corey Perry was held out for the second straight game with an injured right knee. Perry hurt the knee when he collided with Pahlsson during the second period of Game 7 against the Flames.