Pahlsson lets his defense do talking
Samuel Pahlsson is as unassuming off the ice as he is uncompromising on it.
Pahlsson is quickly gaining league-wide acclaim as one of the NHL’s top defensive centers. His role in shutting down the Minnesota Wild’s top offensive players in this first-round series is only adding to his reputation.
Some publications have predicted that the 29-year-old veteran will win the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward.
“He should win the Selke in my mind,” winger Teemu Selanne said Monday. “This guy is unbelievable. I’ve always thought confidence was the thing. He’s so smart and he’s strong with the puck and his balance. He’s unbelievable in faceoffs. And night after night, he’s a workhorse. There’s nobody in my mind that comes after him.”
Quiet by nature, Pahlsson said he isn’t out to win awards.
“It’s not a goal,” he said. “It’s nice that people talk about it. But it’s nothing I think about at all.”
The Ducks think highly of Pahlsson, signing him to a two-year contract extension last summer. A faceoff specialist and leading penalty-killer, Pahlsson has played in a club-record 275 consecutive regular-season games and had a career-high 26 points this season.
Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said the award in the last few years has gone to players with high offensive totals.
“It often goes to a guy who plays in some defensive situations and gets 70 or 80 points,” Pronger said. “It should go to the best defensive forward in the league. And he certainly has earned that honor and should be mentioned among the players every year in that category.”
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Defenseman Francois Beauchemin is probable for Game 4 tonight after receiving numerous stitches to close a deep gash on his chin in Sunday’s 2-1 victory.
He was injured late in the third period after trying to deflect a slap shot by Wild forward Mark Parrish. The puck jumped up on Beauchemin’s stick and caught him in the jaw.
A Ducks spokesman said X-rays showed no broken bones or structural damage around the jaw. Beauchemin, who scored two goals in the Ducks’ Game 2 win, was not at practice Monday but probably will be available for the game.
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The Ducks’ 3-0 series lead is a deficit only two NHL teams have overcome to win a playoff series, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders.
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