When the Ducks last left Honda Center for an eastern road trip, they were 8-0 at home and coming off an 8-1 stretch overall. But, then the tide turned. Wednesday night they returned to Anaheim following losses to Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina and Pittsburgh.
Things appeared to be going their way most of the night, until late in the third period when ageless veteran Jaromir Jagr tied the game 3-3 with about one minute remaining in regulation. They then put the puck into their own net in overtime, giving an early Christmas present to the New Jersey Devils.
Following the final buzzer, here’s what was being said in both locker rooms…
– Ryan Getzlaf on the overall game: “It’s not losing games that bug you so much, it’s the way you lose them. We played a good, hard hockey team and played a pretty solid game. We had lapses throughout the game like anybody else, but when you have it on your stick with a minute left in the game, we’ve got to be able to close it out.”
– Getzlaf on the overtime goal: “It was just a bad break. It’s a tough way to lose a game. Our goalie played great and kept us in the game.”
– Ben Lovejoy on the outcome of the game: “It’s even tougher to swallow that we’re on a losing streak right now. Up 3-2 with very little time left, they get a late goal. We were still trying to win that game. They came back on an odd-man rush, Jonas [Hiller] made the save, and I tried to clear it into the corner, but fired it off of Corey [Perry’s] shin pad.”
– Lovejoy on the overtime goal: “We were aggressive the whole game. They outplayed us in the first period. Our power play responded very well and it put us right back into the game. We were able to go up 3-2, but an incredibly unfortunate ending. That’s a game we need.”
– Coach Bruce Boudreau on the status of Francois Beauchemin: “Right now it’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury. To lose him for any time is a big thing. Hopefully we’ll wake up tomorrow and he’ll be better.”
– Boudreau on the overtime goal: “I don’t even call it a mistake. It was an accident. The way it was going, we missed two total open nets, and a minute before, [Mathieu] Perreault missed the net. You knew something negative was going to happen.”
– Devils’ Jaromir Jagr on facing Ryan Getzlaf line: “Especially against the big line, you have to have patience. One shift you might play in our zone, the next shift you might play in their zone. It was a big challenge for our line.”
– Jagr on his game-tying goal: “We had the puck under control behind the net. I was just waiting in front of the net. Sometimes the puck doesn’t come. This time it came and I had an open net.”
– Devils’ Travis Zajac on the third period: “It was pretty exciting. We had a really strong third period. I think they kind of took some momentum in the second there when they got some of their power play goals and we didn’t create much. Coming out in the third, we started to win the forecheck battle. We got rewarded late in the game on Jagr’s goal and kind of a lucky one there in overtime.”
– Zajac on the win against Anaheim: “They’re a good team. They’re big, they’re strong and they move the puck well. We’re playing some pretty good hockey right now and for us to get a win here, in their building where they have been really good, is big.”
– Devils coach Peter DeBoer on the overtime win: “We’ll take it. We had a bunch of those go against us in the first 10 games of the season and I think it’s those kind of breaks that even themselves out. I think we knew that when we were going through the tough period, and we got a couple tonight.”
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