Corey Perry scores hat trick as Anaheim Ducks dominate Columbus Blue Jackets, 7-4 – NHL Update
Corey Perry scored a hat trick, Teemu Selanne had two goals while Andrew Cogliano and Saku Koivu managed to grab one each as the Anaheim Ducks dominated Columbus Blue Jackets, 7-4, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, on Saturday, January 8, 2012.
In a contest between the teams of relatively low reputation, the Ducks emerged victorious and got their second straight victory.
The Ducks rank fifth in the Pacific Division, whereas the Blue Jackets share the same rank in the Central division.
“We knew this morning when we came to the rink what their record was and what ours was," Perry said. "Where we are is unacceptable. We have to keep playing. We've had two great games, but we have to keep pushing and doing the right things."
The Ducks held the grip of the game tight by maintaining control right from the start.
In the first period, Luca Sbisa and Jason Blake assisted Andrew Cogliano for his eighth goal of the season to give Ducks a lead.
At 13:02, Perry scored his first goal of the game to take the score to 2-0. He was assisted by Bobby Ryan and Francois Beauchemin.
After around four minutes, the Blue Jackets got their moment to cheer.
Rick Nash scored his 13th goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, receiving support from Vaclav Prospal to reduce the deficit to one goal.
However, Ducks once again increased the burden on their opponents.
Selanne scored his 13th goal of the season off an assist from Ryan Getzlaf and Lubomir Visnovsky.
The lead was further extended at 18:59 when Bobby Ryan assisted Saku Koivu for Ducks’ fourth goal of the game, ending the first period, 4-1.
The Blue Jackets struck back at the start of the second period, as Aaron Johnson and Grant Clitsome assisted Deric Brassard to take the score to 4-2.
Perry came into the action late in the period and scored his second goal of the game to once again take a three-goal lead over the Blue Jackets. His move was assisted by Koivu and Visnovsky.
Selanne scored his second goal of the game in the final period. Koivu and Niklas Hagman set him up to take the score to 6-2.
In an attempt to reiterate, the Blue Jackets managed to score two goals. At 4:27, Rick Nash scored his 14th goal of the season.
Around 10 minutes later, Derek Dorsett and Samuel Pahlsson assisted Prospal to bring the deficit once again to two goals.
However, the Blue Jackets could not score anymore after that while Perry scored his 18th goal to complete his hat trick to see his team through.
It was a second straight win for the Ducks, who are not having a very good time this season. They are now going to face Dallas Stars on Tuesday, January 10.
"We realised that if we lost, we were going to be at rock-bottom. So we didn't want to do that," Selanne said. "It's unbelievable. It's embarrassing. We want to start climbing up and go from there. And this is something positive to build on.”
The Blue Jackets, who were coming in with a win over the Los Angeles Kings, will now take on Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
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